New Bohemia Says Farewell to Austin After Two Decades
- Natasha Day
- May 24, 2023
- 4 min read
By Natasha Day
AUSTIN –– Talena Rasmussen's yellow hand-drawn placard in the window of her business, New Bohemia, asks her customers of 20 years to follow her @newboatx.
And given her history as a small business owner who started when Austin wasn't so big and was still holding on to its old vibe, they just might.
If a fire at at of her stores could not stop her she stands a chance against the economic downturn from COVID-19.
KXAN reports that almost 1,500 businesses in the Austin-Round Rock area have either closed briefly or for good according to research by Yelp.
"Anything can happen, I've learned," Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen has had her share of disappointments throughout her 20 years as a businesswoman. Her latest is the decision to close her beloved vintage store, New Bohemia, after the pandemic limited the number of people in public spaces. Rasmussen has owned many storefronts in Austin, selling handmade goods as well as vintage clothes and items she collected over the years -- turning what others regarded as a trash into treasure.
She grew up in the southeast corner of Kansas in a town called Columbus with her mother who worked two jobs.
“I learned the value of money and working for what you want very early.”
At age 13 she lied and said she was older so she could get a paper route to make $30 a month. “I’d buy cheap little boy clothes and pair them with my expensive jeans that I spent all my money on. I’ve always loved crazy pants,” Rasmussen said.
She moved to New Braunfels, Texas when she was 15 because her mom had a drug addicted boyfriend.
“I lived with my hippie dad in a trailer, down by the river on River Road, the front door never closed.”
Her dad's friends would donate their old polyester pants and band t-shirts to her, “I dressed crazy at that point. Beastie Boys t-shirt and my 70’s poly pants were totally my jam.”
“So that's how vintage happened, out of necessity and out of comfort.”
Her dad passed away and she ended up moving back to Kansas shortly after. She saved up enough money for a bus ticket and came back to Texas to apply for college.
She moved to Austin in the 90s and applied to the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. She didn’t get into UT’s business school, so she applied to St. Edwards University, “I wanted to go where I was valued,” said Rasmussen, “I had a sense of self-worth.”
After graduating from St. Ed’s, she got a job sewing at Hancock Fabrics for $5.15 an hour. Customers would commission her to make clothes for them on the side and she actually ended up making more money that way.
In 2001 her and a friend decided to start selling their own home-made clothes, handbags and jewelry out of recycled bedsheets and curtains.
“I’ve always known I was going to be an entrepreneur. I knew I was going to be the boss of my own world.”
While living on South Congress she became a frequent customer at New Bohemia, a popular vintage clothing store. She told the owner of the store about her new hobby and the owner offered to rent her an 8 by 10-inch dealer space inside the store.
“Soco to me was this like ‘lala land’,” she said. “Everybody said hello to you, I’d walk down to Jo’s, I don't pay for coffee, all I do is throw money in the tip jar, that’s old Austin, Austin was like that kind of laid back and casual.”
When South Congress started changing into a tourist area the owner decided to sell it and offered it to Rasmussen. In addition to New Bohemia she owned a clothing store called Parts and Labour, also on South Congress, and a men's clothing store called New Brohemia on South 1st Street for five years.
“I’ve worked my ass off for forever.”
The recession in 2008 forced her to close Parts and Labour and she’s had her fair share of setbacks since.
New Bohemia moved to a new location in a shopping center on Airport Boulevard in 2017.
One evening in mid-November 2018 Rasmussen was about to leave the shop to go to her sisters 40th birthday dinner when a young woman started running around the shopping center shouting “Fire! There’s a fire!”
The fire had started in a dentist office next door. There was so much soot that she had to fire sell everything in the store. Insurance wouldn’t cover any of the damages.
“That really set me back,” Rasmussen said, “My whole life is like that, putting out fires.”
Even through all her struggles she remains optimistic.
“I got where I am today by saying, ‘Yes, I’ll try.’”
It was only her and her niece Taya working until they closed up the shop in mid-September. She tried to negotiate with the landlord about adjusting her lease, but they haven’t been responding to her and haven’t offered lower rent. “I can’t keep going into debt to hope that I recover.”
As far as what’s next she said she’ll be selling vintage online and having yard sales. She’s open to start sewing again. She mentioned that she may collaborate with people selling clothes on their Depop stores, or maybe become a caretaker.
“Things just change, you figure it out, you have to adapt.”
SOURCES
Talena Rasmussen, Vintage Store Owner
KXAN link
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