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by zarna surti | photography by jeremy ryan

THE DOWN-TO-EARTH TRENDSETTERS, GOODBUY GIRLS AND HELLO BOYS, ARE GIVING US YET ANOTHER REASON TO MEANDER AROUND 5 POINTS. AND YES, THEIR STORIES ARE AS ADORABLY INTERTWINED AS YOU WOULD EXPECT

THE FANTASTIC FOUR

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“We needed a bigger store so we could have more friends,”says a fashionably disheveled brunette, her back against a case full of vintage turquoise jewelry. Across from her hangs a cream-colored fringe jacket that could have been picked right off Loretta Lynn’s back. She shoots a glance at her partner in crime, wearing fitted jeans and camel-colored leather cowboy boots. Say hello to the Goodbuy Girls, owners Kim Da-vison and Tanya Coe. These are the girls we all want to hang out with—the ones dripping in vin-tage gems, effortlessly throwing on denim, bandanas, and boots (in a seriously chic way). Those gorgeous girls that are not only impeccably dressed and fun to hang out with, but could proba-bly drink you under the table any night of the week.

Kim and Tanya met in the most unlikely of places—assigned seats in economics class. “Who even has assigned seats in col-lege?” Tanya laughs, adjusting her leather blazer. They were instant buds and started hanging out in the Nashville music scene, where Tanya remembers that Kim, who worked for Warner Bros. at the time, “would always invite me to all of the cool parties.” Watch-ing them, I could tell they were those college girls that did what-ever they wanted, whenever they wanted. They have this great rap-port. It’s a mix between Lucy & Ethel and Destiny’s Child—play-ful and fierce.

The initial stages of what would eventually be known as Goodbuy Girls began when their friends started giving them items they didn’t want anymore. As Kim pulls up her over-the-knee socks, she recalls, “It was bizarre. We liked to go thrifting and an-tiquing. But people would just give us stuff, and we’d give it to our friends.” Eventually, they

realized it was time to start sell-ing their finds, especially since they both had singer-songwriter friends who were constantly per-forming and needed affordable clothing for gigs.

Tanya points to the vintage stage clothing that adorns the walls. “My mom was a big inspi-ration. My dad is an entertainer, so all through the ’80s and ’90s, they were on stage together.” So it comes as no surprise that

Tanya is a singer-songwriter. “My mom almost died when she found out this stuff was coming back in style,” she adds, “that’s where the whole idea was born!”

Before opening Goodbuy Girls, like many twentysome-things, Kim and Tanya ended up in career fields they didn’t love. Tanya worked nonstop in finan-cial accounting software, which most definitely didn’t allow her wardrobe of vintage concert tees, flowy dresses, and cowboy boots

"MY MOM ALMOST DIED WHEN SHE FOUND OUT THIS STUFF WAS COMING BACK IN STYLE."

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GOODBUY GIRLS AND HELLO BOYS:

Is located at 1108 Woodland St. For more info, visit goodbuygirlsnashville.com and helloboysnashville.com

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to shine. “She was wearing loafers,” Kim smirks. Tanya quit her accounting job, and the girls started an online store as a hobby. Soon after, they found an ad on Craigslist for a $250 retail space on 16th and Ordway in East Nashville, and the pair jumped at the idea of having their very first storefront. When they went to see the space, there was no electricity. They even had to bring flashlights to look around.

“We gave the landlord ten dollars be-cause we didn’t have any money. It was sort of a security deposit,” recalls Kim,

“I don’t even think it was our ten dol-lars—it was from our friend, Brianne!” After some serious renovation, the pair opened their doors on Saturdays, and soon enough, Kim was able to quit her day job, and Goodbuy Girls expanded their hours to more than just one day a week.

The first location was perfect for creating brand awareness and build-ing regular clientele, but the girls were ready to move closer to 5 Points in East Nashville. Although they enjoyed being off the beaten path and getting to know the community, the owner of Alegria (who was, and still is, their neighbor) recommended a new development at 1108 Woodland Street, called The Idea Hatchery.

In July 2011, Goodbuy Girls opened their new shop and adorned it with vintage gems, trendy new merchan-dise, and affordable jewels. By this time, Goodbuy Girls was not only a store, but also a brand and a lifestyle. A little rockabilly, a little girly, and totally ba-dass. The GG girl is “independent, free-minded, and free-thinking,” says Kim.

“We want to help girls put their looks together. There’s nothing better than walking out of here with something that makes you feel good.”

The store is open seven days a week and offers an eclectic mix of vintage, handmade, and contemporary pieces—something for every shade of woman. Walking in, you’ll find rows and rows of soft, leathery cowboys boots, lace vintage dresses, crop tops, and vibrant jewelry. Even though Kim and Tanya dress Nashville’s country elite and TV

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stars, as well as style video shoots, they’re not too big for their britches.

“We’re just Nashville girls, figuring it out one day at a time,” says Tanya.

Along with the rock star-friendly vintage and contemporary apparel stands a chic little rack in the corner labeled “HB” (short for “Hello Boys”). This is where Gavin

O’Neill and Jeremy Ryan, co-owners of Hello Boys, come in.

In 2010, Gavin, a lumberjack-chic Californian, moved to Nashville to be with his boyfriend, Jeremy, a Kentucky native who was studying photography. While Jeremy was in school, Gavin would hang out at the girls’ boutique. “I was the worst little customer. I tried on this one pair of boots seven times be-fore I bought them,” says Gavin with a cover boy smile. “I even started slowly creeping into helping customers!”

Gavin and Kim became especially close when he came in to buy new clothes, jewelry, and shoes for his friend whose apartment had just burned down.

“Kim had this amazing energy,” he says. “She was so helpful and kind to me. Ever since then, we’ve been friends.”

Shortly after, Jeremy and Gavin wrote a story about and photographed Kim and Tanya for a magazine fea-ture. “That’s when we all really got to know each other,” recalls Jeremy. At the time, Kim was busy crafting pieces, and Tanya was focusing on writing music. Although the gals wanted to expand fur-ther, neither one of them had the time to do so. One night, Kim and Gavin strolled over to Drifters, casually dis-cussing the men’s line. On a whim, Kim said, “Hey, why don’t you just open the men’s store?” Two months later, Hello Boys opened their doors. And the rest is East Nashville history.

Hello Boys had less than two weeks to complete the space they were lucky enough to land in The Idea Hatchery,

just a few steps down from the girls. In less than ten days, they transformed the entire retail space and opened its doors just in time for the Tomato Art Fest this past summer. They used the handiwork of friends like Dan Carr to craft barn-yard shelves, and they scoured shops for rustic features to adorn the space. It doesn’t hurt that Gavin has an elegant aesthetic, and Jeremy runs his own pho-tography and design company. The two of them seem virtually unstoppable to-gether.

Hello Boys is dripping with vintage clothes and accessories for the modern Southern gentleman, and most pieces could easily be unisex. Their eye for leather is impeccable, and their collec-tion of men’s vintage clothing is one of the most artfully curated in town. Gavin and Jeremy also make sure to carry pieces by up-and-coming designers, like Christina Postell ties, and bracelets by Renee Nantes. These items maintain the look that has folks like Elvis Costel-lo walking through their doors.

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Gavin says the Hello Boys brand is all about “being authentic and authentical-ly yourself.” And that’s exactly what Kim and Tanya are going for.

“Anytime there is a big deal to be made, we consult each other. We are a team and depend on each other to make sure our branding is respectful of the other store,” says Jeremy, the quietest of the bunch. You can tell he’s one of those people that has a million things going

on in his head at once, but chooses his words wisely. On one side, you’ve got the relaxed Tanya and Jeremy, and on the other side, you’ve got the rambunc-tious Gavin and Kim. They are the per-fect pairings.

As Tanya kicks up her cowboy boots, she says, “I never thought I’d be self-em-ployed, but this has become everything that I ever wanted. It just happened, ac-cidentally and organically.”

HTTP

://NATIVE.IS

ISSUE N

O. 11 / M

AY 2013 / IAN W

HITE

NATIVE

Goodbuy Girls | Hello Boys

The Joy of Painting

Nashville B-Cycle

Cafe Fundamental

Future Unlimited

Michael Carter

James Willis

Kat Zhang

And More!

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president: ANGELIQUE PITTMANpublisher: JON PITTMAN editor-in-chief: SARAH SHARPcreative director: MACKENZIE MOORE

managing editor: ELISE LASKOassistant editors: BECCA CAPERS LAURABETH MARTINart director: HANNAH LOVELL sales director: KATRINA HARTWIGaccount executives: CAYLA MACKEY JOSHUA SIRCHIO COLIN PIGOTT JOE CLEMONS ALEX TAPPER

web editor: TAYLOR RABOIN writers: CHRISTINA VINSON MALLORIE KING ZARNA SURTI DAVE PITTMAN ANDREW JOHNSON KRISTEN MCDANIEL GILLIS BERNARD ANN RAVANOS RALPH NOYES JUSTIN BARISICH WELLS ADAMS JUSTINA BIEBER, JR.

photographers: ANDREA BEHRENDS BRENT LAFEVER LAUREN HOLLAND CAMERON POWELL JESS WILLIAMS RYAN GREEN JEREMY RYAN ALYSSE GAFKJEN DANIELLE ATKINS

videographer: WAYNE BLAKE POLLARD

interns: ALI AKEY LEIGH WARE KATE CAUTHEN TYLER WALKER

music supervisor: JOE CLEMONS brand advisors: DAVE PITTMAN CAYLA MACKEY to advertise, contact: SALES@NATIVE.ISfor all other enquiries: HELLO@NATIVE.IS

DEAR NATIVES,

Sarah Sharp,editor- in- chief

It’s May. So wake up and smell the roses. I know—it’s not quite summer yet, but don’t get your panties in a bunch. Soon enough, your face will be melting right along with your Bobbie’s Dairy Dip. It’s the perfect time to hit the park for a picnic, relax on the patio with a brew, break out the shorts, and get that ass on a bike. But don’t forget the deodorant or the helmet.

And another thing to remember: be nice, because the weather is. Whether that means giving that idiot driver a break when he has absolutely no idea how to use the new roundabout on 8th, or actually buying a current issue of The Contributor instead of taping the old one to your dash—it’s important to pay it forward. If your mom didn’t tell you what goes around comes around, Justin Timberlake surely did. While I’m not a mother in the traditional sense, around the NATIVE office, they call me

“Mama.” Don’t ask, and I won’t tell. But I will tell you one thing: I’m expecting some badass tokens of appreciation for Mother’s Day.

Because I said so,

BEHIND THE COVER:

For May’s cover shoot with Ian White, photographer Jess Williams headed to the Safe House Tattoo Studio in Edgehill Village. Luckily, Ian’s fellow artists were more than willing to lend a hand.