Portland Trading Co
On this episode of Makers of Maine, I had the chance to chat with Kazeem from Portland Trading Co, one of my favorite places to buy a new piece of clothing.
For Kazeem, craft is a very broad term because he touches on it in so many ways between curation, fashion design and showcasing his own life through his brand. He wants each customer to have a unique experience when they come into his shop.
Photographed by Sean Alonzo Harris
“So I wanted a unique experience when people come into my shop, like be an extension of myself, almost like the concept of going into someone's home. I don't want to be like everybody else in terms of a certain staple. In some ways, there's some format you have to follow when it comes to a retail shop, but at the same time, I felt like the more authentic I can be to myself, as far as what I like, the more unique it will naturally evolve anyway, in terms of the shop and the content of the shop.” - Kazeem
He hasn’t even had the chance to implement all of his ideas into his shop yet, so there is more to come and much more for customers to be excited for in the future! The store reflects anything he is into at that moment from food, to travel, to cultures, to his own journey. Kazeem said, “especially in the world that we live in today that really, really short attention span that people have, so you always constantly have to be evolving, and shaking things up and bringing new things and all that kind of stuff.”
Photographed by Sean Alonzo Harris
Kazeem was born in California, raised in Nigeria and came to the US for college. He shares how he always loved building something from scratch growing up and felt that it was in his blood to run his own business one day. He had even started a factory in Nigeria manufacturing ice cubes. “I still think I lost my mind going on that journey, but it was a very, very important part of my journey to go do that.” It seems like through this story that it was fate he ended up in Maine because he had always been a big city person.
He had met many people that loved the landscape and idea of Maine. He says, they moved to Maine for the quality of life and the calmness that nature brings, but he came to Maine specifically for his job at the time as an electrical engineer. He grew to love Maine and says, “the lifelong friendships that are formed and the tight community that Maine, particularly Portland, has to offer has been a blessing.”
When he was let go from his job in Maine due to the company becoming bankrupt, he knew it was time to start the process of building a store. In 2012, Portland Trading Co was born from that process. Not only did he start a store in Portland, but he started the African Film Festival, became a counselor at the Center for Grieving Children and volunteered at a soup kitchen.
Photographed by Sean Alonzo Harris
“There things I've never done in my life before, but because of the smallness and the intimacy of the landscape here, the people gradually allowed me to start letting myself be more involved. All the ideas has been pent up in my brain forever, I started writing grants and doing things I would never have dreamed about doing if I was still in the New York City area. So that's the beauty of the landscape here.”
We had the chance to talk in depth about Kazeem’s store, Portland Trading Co and how he decides what products to showcase in his store. He shares how he tries to simplify things, but build around certain pillars to be a “lifestyle store” and a place where customers can get “absolute essentials.” He tries to find small companies that are the best option, best price quality and are in a small batch. Different products come from different businesses that he believes are the best in the biz. At the store, you can find everything from stationaries to candles, ceramics to rugs. Every time he travels, he brings back things from his travels to add to his store.
Photographed by Sean Alonzo Harris
Kazeem also has his own creations in the store, men’s and women’s apparel. “As fate would play his magic trick on you, I was doing consulting with an LL Bean site consultant and while I'm working over there, I saw a guy wearing a shirt that I've always wanted to have in my shop. I asked him, ‘Yo, where did you get that?’ And he said, 'Oh, my wife made it.’ Before I even said it he said, ‘Oh my god, you got to talk to her, you guys should meet.’
That's how Darien Lonnegan came into my life. We started talking, we hit it off. I didn't go to school for design, I sketch and photos and inspirations and she looks at it and she said, ‘we can do this.’ That's how we started. We've been working together now for maybe five years. She's doing our own private label, Portland Trading Co designs made right here in Maine.”
I am so excited for you all to hear Kazeem’s full story on this podcast episode & maybe we will bump into each other at his store in Portland, Maine!
Thank you to Town & Country Credit Union for sponsoring this episode.