All posts tagged Hartford’s 1st Mobile Boutique

Several weeks ago I had a conversation with my older brother Abdul of The Dream Support Network about opening up a Specs Crew store. I told him that I found my self looking for somewhere to go after work in order to be around other artist. The only place in the area I could think of going was to Jerry’s Artarama, which is an art store in the city.  I told him my vision of having a space where Artist of all forms could come and paint, write, dance and just create and hang out. He told me the pros and cons of having a store front as a year prior he opened up the first Dream Support Network space and then closed it 6 months later due to little foot traffic. He told me that  I was going to have to choose a good location and that I would have to get the people there. He said I would have to have a schedule of events and activities in order to get the people excited about the space. He said I would have to have something to sell that people wanted and I would have to pay for the lease and utilities. I took his comments into consideration but still held onto the dream of having this creative space. I believed that it was possible.

Fast Forward about a week. I went to visit Abdul at his office around the end of the work day on a Tuesday. He told me, ” Yo I found a ice cream truck in Bridgeport.  I’m going to see it today. You wanna go?” I initially told him that I had to pick up my girls from school. He then said Dayshell, which is his wife, could pick them up as our kids go to the same school. It took about a second for me to say lets go. You probably wondering why he was buying an ice cream truck.  Well, Abdul aka Dream Chaser #1 or DC1 has an event that he does called Ice Cream for a Dream. In September of 2012 we rented an ice cream truck and went around Hartford handing out ice cream for dreams. He thought instead of renting a vehicle why not have his own.  So back to the story. We got into the car and headed to Bridgeport. On the way down we spoke about our dreams and how we were both pushing one another. We arrived to the garage where the 1973 Chevy P10 was parked. It was painted all white and shaped like a huge box. After about an hour of waiting for the owner we were able to see the inside. We saw that it needed work but Abdul was determined to get this vehicle. Since it was around 9pm and due to use really not having good light he decided to return the next day to work on the deal.

On the ride home I began to think about the store again. I thought that instead of having a store front why not have a vehicle like the one we just saw and sell my paintings and apparel out of it. Abdul ended up making a deal on the truck and had it delivered by that Friday. The same day he received his truck I was online looking for a truck of my own. There were so many out there.  As I searched for the vehicle online I typed in Mobile Boutique. To my surprise this idea had already been done. I found an awesome truck in Sacramento California called Gypsy Mobile Boutique. There was another one called the The Fashion Truck that had been up and running for several years. I saw that the two truck previously mentioned were using a 1987 Chevy P30 step-van. I narrowed down my search and ended up finding a 1988 Chevy P30 in Hempstead Long Island for $2,800. I saw this was a deal as similar trucks were going for at least 4k. I made contact with the owner who said it was still up for sale. He said he was out of town but would be home on Monday. I went to bed excited that night. I laid there thinking where I was going to get the money from as I was down to my last $100 and had many bills to pay. So Monday morning comes. I had this step van as my dominate thought for about a week now.  I was determined to find the money I needed. What’s important about dream chasing is that you have to have people that are around you that can help you. Well I found a pair of people that believed in me and my dream and fronted the money for the step-van. I left work early and headed to Long Island.

I arrived to Fulton Ave in Hempstead at around 5pm. The owner of the vehicle stated that he had bought it a month earlier. I was curious to know why he  was trying to sell it. He said he was planning on opening up a food truck but found that it was going to be too expensive. Well, my luck he needed to sell it and I was going to be the one to own it. I was able to drive it around the parking lot and saw that the inside was clean and i didn’t see a bit of rust. I knew i was going to have a mechanic to look over it but it was time to negotiate. I came in asking $1,800 but he said he needed at least $2,000. I tried to keep my poker face on because i was willing to pay at least $2,200. We setteled on $2,000. I asked that he take a picture of me standing in my new step van.  I felt so proud of my self. I didn’t stop on this dream. I felt that the purchase of the vehicle was going to enhance what i was going to be able to do with Specs crew. As i sat in White Castles eating my sliders I said to my self, “ I have my store.”