Vintage clothing business wins second annual Hormel contest

Cody Dame and Tanner Lytle of Game On offered some advice to the 2008 winner of the Hormel Family Foundation Business Competition. "It will be a lot of hard work and you'll get no rest," said Dame. "Be prepared to work your butt off," said Lytle.

 Those words will be heeded by Courtney Pollmann of Peacocks and Paisley, an online vintage clothing store that Pollmann plans to develop. As this year's winner of the competition, Pollmann will receive a $25,000 investment in exchange for a minority stake in the business. She will also benefit from consulting services valued in excess of $10,000.

Pollmann started a vintage clothing Web site about three months ago www.daisytoad. etsy.com. In that time, she has tripled her sales and has sold about 25 percent of what she has listed on the site.

Vintage is defined as anything 20 years old or older. Pollmann showed the judges and audience a civil war jacket that she had purchased at a thrift store. In a pocket of the jacket, she found the gloves that were worn with it and a patch that was sewn to the sleeve. Other vintage items that her store will carry include patterns, jewelry, aprons, purses, and lingerie.

"I've always loved vintage clothing. I got the best-dressed award in my high school yearbook," proclaimed Pollmann. "It wasn't because I always had the most up-to-date wardrobe -- it was because I always put together the most unusual fashions."

Pollmann's clientele will be mostly online, but she also hopes to have a Norris Avenue storefront, serving as a hub for the online store. It will allow her to build an inventory of vintage clothing, which she will purchase at auctions, flea markets, thrift stores, and through word of mouth. Someday she hopes to expand by offering knitting and crocheting classes, a craft that she feels is a lost art with her generation.

Courtney is a lifelong resident of the McCook area. Her husband, Darren, is a ranch foreman with Valley Pork. She has two children, Olivia, 10, and Miles, 1. Her business venture, Peacocks and Paisley, was named after her daughter's first auction purchase, a velvet wall hanging of a peacock.

Ben Hormel Harris of Hormel Family Foundation said, "All of this year's participants were stellar. Courtney's entrepreneurial spirit was clear and her knowledge and love for her sector put her over the top. But we were thrilled with the high level of participation in this year's contest."