When naming the online brand that would eventually become her brick-and-mortar business, Christine Francis looked to her pets – Carmen, a calico cat, and Ginger, a cocker spaniel.
Now a downtown Warren storefront, Carmen & Ginger Vintage Goods, appropriate to its namesakes, offers a range of used and locally made clothing, accessories and decor for humans and their fluffy companions.
Prior to launching Carmen & Ginger, Francis hadn’t envisioned herself as a small-business owner; she’d never considered herself a risk-taker and appreciated the stability of her corporate job in the restaurant industry.
Francis was, however, a longtime collector – a pastime she inherited from her parents – and started selling vintage items online during the early days of eBay.
“My dad is a collector, and my mom always took me to flea markets and rummage sales, so I sort of grew up with it,” Francis said.
Then, the security of her corporate job vanished when Francis was hit by layoffs during the Great Recession. Francis says that jolt, alongside her success in online sales, gave her the confidence to pursue Carmen & Ginger as a full-time business.
After launching the brand online in 2009 as an Etsy store, Francis went on to open her first brick-and-mortar location in 2013 at The Arcade Providence. She moved her store to the Four Corners area of Tiverton in 2020 after a lease change at the Arcade, but she felt that the area wasn’t convenient to her core customer base.
Then, a new location became available just off Main Street in Warren, which Francis appreciated for its artistic community, walkable downtown and central location between Providence and Aquidneck Island.
“I didn’t really lose my old customers, and I gained new Warren customers,” said Francis, who also continues to offer items through her Etsy store. “It just seemed like a lot of different things coming together.”
Throughout her time in business, Francis has maintained a focus on cats and dogs, whether that’s pet-themed items for humans or functional items for pets.
“It sort of sets me apart from other vintage stores,” Francis said of the theme, and it draws a clientele that wouldn’t typically be attracted to a vintage store.
While most of the items sold in Francis’ store are vintage finds, the cat- and dog-specific items are unused but purchased through local makers – Dusidog out of Woonsocket, for example, which makes bowties and collars for dogs, and Coventry-based Hope Rope Co., which fashions nautical ropes into leashes.
Her human clientele, meanwhile, can find a range of secondhand items such as clothes, bags, shoes, jewelry and seasonal goods, with less-common appearances of items such as a vintage bike or record in the store window.
In curating her inventory, “I look everywhere all the time,” Francis said. “I’m always looking at yard sales and thrift shops, flea markets. ... Sometimes I get house calls. It’s really a mix.”
Despite the eclectic range, “I am picky,” Francis said. “Sometimes it doesn’t look that way ... but I’m open to anything.”
OWNER: Christine Francis
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Vintage goods store
LOCATION: 18 Child St., Warren
EMPLOYEES: One
YEAR FOUNDED: 2009
ANNUAL REVENUE: WND
