Inside Lucky DeLuxe Fabrics

But the owners of a new store in California—who will have a booth at the upcoming Long Beach Quilt Festival—take it a step further: They are repurposers of repurposers.

The entire stock at Lucky DeLuxe Fabrics consists of items given to them by those looking to downsize their stash, clear out their attics, or pass on a deceased relative’s stockpile. For longtime friends Bronwen Burton and Catherine Esera, it’s the next and best step of their business and personal interests.

The pair have known each other for two decades via working in the same field as pattern designers and costume makers for playhouses and theatres in Orange County—an industry which was one of the most severely hit by COVID. Tooling around social media, Burton had seen another store owner with a similar repurposing business concept making TikTok videos.

“I was enamored of the idea, and she said there should be one of these stores like hers in every town and she fully gave me permission to do it,” Burton says. “So, I was like…’Hey, Catherine, do you want to open a store with me?’”

Each had already established side hustles making and selling things like quilts, bags, and clothes at craft shows, Esera as Lucky Zelda and Burton as Queen DeLuxe, and their combined business would take both their names. “We were both looking at getting out of theater, so this was the time,” Esera adds. “It worked out beautifully.”

Lucky DeLuxe Fabrics began as an online venture only, but March 4 of this year the pair opened a brick-and-mortar location, which they say was always part of the Master Plan. And there was another reason.

“We were running out of space in our own homes to store things! We had gotten so many donations they were taking over,” Burton laughs. Both were shocked at the number of boxes, bags, and containers that would show up on their doorsteps even from casual, offhand solicitation. “And it’s a tactile thing. You want to get your hands on this stuff, and you can’t do that just online.” Lucky DeLuxe still has robust website, though.

“We haven’t had to search at all! It started as just privately to our friends,” Esera says. Burton says she’s only had to go on Facebook Marketplace once. And they’ve now got so much stock, they are trying to slow down the flow.

“We had a donor that said she had a couple of bags, and she showed up with eight giant bins. Another man brought his 94-year-old mother’s things in a full pick-up truck. I think this just proves it’s a needed resource in the community,” Esera adds.

“I was thinking about it today, and I’m the Garbage Queen!” Burton laughs.

As for geography, the pair say they tend to get more Hawaiian-themed items and batiks, cottons, and lighter weight items that perhaps if their store was in another (or colder) part of the country, as well as vacation wear they purchased and just haven’t used. There’s also “a ton of guilds” in Orange Country whose members are both potential donors and customers.

When Burton and Esera actually turned the key to open the doors of their store for the first time, they admit to a bit of sleeplessness, but also excitement. “I was shocked at how not nervous we were. It just seemed natural,” Esera offers. “And we could walk into our homes without seeing all those piles of boxes! It was a relief.”

Because of their business model, the stock at Lucky DeLuxe literally changes every day. And like the dudes on the TV show Pawn Stars, they never know what’s coming through the door.

Two of the coolest items to date have been a piece of fabric from a Catalina-brand bathing suit and some Victorian lace actually made in the Victoria era from “someone’s nana’s nana’s nana.” And yes, they admit to “geeking out” over some of the treasures coming in.

As for the Long Beach Festival, they are both excited to exhibit, and especially seeing customers face to face. “That’s why the show is fun, especially when online customers introduce themselves to us,” Esera says. “There’s an energy. And that’s the best part of the show.”

When I mention if they’ve got any vintage polyester disco leisure suits in stock (asking for a friend), the pair laugh.

“We don’t have any of those,” Esera chuckles. “But we have the fabric for it!”

For more on Lucky DeLuxe Fabrics, visit www.luckydeluxefabrics.com