This month’s #CSBAspotlight: Great Eastern Trading Company! Located here since the 1990s, this vintage clothing store is a Central Square staple.

“I’ve always been a big fan of vintage clothes and developing a style of my own. Last year I was in here shopping and the former owner, Marlene, told me she was looking for a buyer because she was ready to move on to different things. My head just kind of started spinning. Within a week, I had decided to buy the store and she was psyched. She said Great Eastern has a very personified and palpable energy and she could feel that I was the right person to fit the store. And it’s true — this store has such an energy — it’s like a living thing and we just tend it.

On top of vintage finds, Halloween costumes have been a running tradition here almost as long as the store has been open. We don’t have as many packaged, pre-made costumes like a Halloween pop-up shop would. But we do have a lot of pieces that are reminiscent of characters from history, television, etc. and a lot of beautiful masks and other elements that work to create your own costume. It’s all about getting creative with it.

Central Square has always been this cool melting pot of people coming together. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and there’s always been a great music and arts scene — it’s everywhere you look. And that has only grown with #CentralFlea! We’ll have a booth and I’ll be singing with one of my bands. Come say hi!”

— Nephtaliem McCrary, Owner of Great Eastern Trading Company