Johnny Huston was walking down Pleasant St. in Concord eating a bagel and spied the place of his dreams – an empty retail space perfectly sized for the clothing business he had always wanted.

After flipping a coin to decide his future, the 24-year-old made a call and in a matter of weeks he was opening Capital Vintage in March, a clothing store that encapsulates “cool” and continues to grow in the city and beyond.

“Growing up in New Hampshire, I always found myself going to Massachusetts, or Rhode Island, or New York just to find some of this stuff. And I was like, why not New Hampshire? Why not me? Why not us?” said Huston. “For any sort of community who shows a little bit of love back is everything, especially in a state that does not have a whole lot of influx of it.”

He’s found such success, he’s planning to open a new store in Portsmouth next week.

Walking into the former sewing shop at 19 Pleasant Street, customers are immersed in an environment with a different vibe for the Capital City. The store usually moves to the beat of punk rock bands or rap music. The walls are adorned with decorative flags, art, shoes, hats, bags and knick-knacks.

As the name implies, vintage clothing remains the centerpiece. A rolling bin placed in the middle of all the racks offers t-shirts from classic bands, sports, games and movies for $10.

“There’s billions and billions and billions of pounds of textiles out there. Someone may love something while someone else hates something. We’re not going to please everybody with the selection that we have here, but the curation is what we sell,” he said. “We don’t sell the clothes. We sell our personal time, efforts and passions into it.”

The Milford native recently wore riveted pocket denim pants with a boot-cut flare made in Ireland accompanied by a sweater with beige and blue color blocks. Houston sports multiple silver jewelry pieces, dozens of tattoos and his lucky golf club hat. Huston essentially wears the look he’s trying to sell.

He learned about the clothing industry and design from a local business in his hometown when he was in high school and was hooked. He found that he became more confident and found a space where he felt comfortable within the vintage clothing scene—where different contemporary subcultures like skateboarding, tattoos, alternative music and clothing converge.

“This is the community that opened up their arms to me with no hesitation. It’s all about good energy with vintage because it’s about the pieces and the people. It’s not just about money and this is one of the most accessible communities that I’ve ever been a part of,” said Huston. “When I was accepted into this seamlessly, it was like ‘Wow, why can’t I do that for other people?’”

The vintage clothing scene has exploded in popularity because of online trends popularizing past eras of fashion, and because of the sustainability of the business. More young people are gravitating toward pre-owned clothing instead of new items from expensive fast-fashion retailers.

Brendan Pinto, 20, of Bow, works at Capital Vintage and has seen high school-aged kids stopping by after school. Some spend their last five bucks in the store. He has his own online clothing reselling business and said the business model is all about making sure people have access to stylish, affordable clothes.

Customer Isai Pena-Cruz, 32, said he wears a lot of streetwear and comfortable, classic pieces from the ‘90s. He has purchased Carhartt jackets and wrestling tees from Capital Vintage and always stops by to look for new stuff.

“I shop here because I like being able to get pieces that you can’t get somewhere else, something that you can’t just find on any store,” he said. “The staff is really cool here, so they make it really fun to be here and I just like the hunt.”

Huston relishes the stories behind the clothes. Capital Vintage goes through hundreds of pounds of donations, bags and bins to find the clothes for the racks and try to strike gold with one or two items that pop. Huston has bought clothes off people’s backs and hunted for pieces all across New England, but his favorite piece in the store is a Megadeth tee from a 1989 tour.

“Sometimes we get older folks in here, and they’re like, ‘Wow, I was at this concert,’ which is mind-blowing in itself,” he said. “When someone says, ‘Oh my god, I had this shirt growing up,’ I love it.”

He offers the clothes in the bin for cheap because he wants to provide affordability. Since opening, Capital Vintage has offered bag sales where customers can purchase a bundle of items for $20 to make the hunt fun and easy on the wallet.

“There’s always like a different era that’s new, and I feel like the ‘90s are a big thing right now,” said customer Pena-Cruz. “Being able to have a store like this, people come in and be able to engulf themselves in it, even though they may be younger and maybe not necessarily grew up in the ‘90s, they like to be able to come and see what it’s all about.”

The growth of the business has been a dream come true for Huston. He never expected the support he has received. Now, Capital Vintage will be expanding closer to its target demographic — Portsmouth.

“I really expect that it’s gonna go well because Portsmouth is such an in-and-out place. People from other countries go to Portsmouth,” said Huston. “That’s the New Hampshire spot. So I’m very glad to be able to touch base with everybody who comes through there. But the next goal, is just to keep hunting good pieces, keeping the mission alive, and meeting new people.”

The new location at 10 Ladd St., Portsmouth will have a grand opening with a bag sale and raffle on Dec. 7 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com