Outdated Threads owner and operator Nic Provenzano shows off his Wheeling Thunderbirds collection at his shop in Wheeling’s Centre Market area.

WHEELING — Outdated Threads, located at 2263 Market St. offers a nostalgic feeling to the historic Center Market.

Owner and operator Nic Provenzano said that he offers hand sourced vintage clothing.

“I still pick everything that goes on the rack. I’m very OCD about material and quality of clothing. You don’t get that clothing nowadays, so it’s cool to offer that to Wheeling,” he said. “Some people aren’t worried about that but some people are. So you get to offer the best of both worlds. Like, they may already know what they’re looking for or you get to show somebody something new.”

Provenzano added that some people think that old dirty clothes are just old dirty clothes. “They’re like, I never would want to buy but then they’re like, ‘Oh, well, I keep buying this one shirt and it keeps shrinking and I don’t get to wear it.’ Well, you got to buy better quality, you know?” Provenzano said. “But yeah, I offer vintage clothing, thrifted, hunted in the wild

and odds and ends like records, cassettes, signs and toys.”

Despite Outdated Threads only being open for two years, thrifting has been a lifelong passion to Provenzano, who said that he grew up going to yard sales and secondhand shopping. He added that he believes it’s easier for him to find what he likes than going to a store or shopping online because he knows exactly what he’s looking for.

Provenzano said that, while he was in high school and college during the late 2010s and early 2020s, the reseller market really started to boom so he started saving vintage clothing in hopes of starting a store one day.

While searching for a location to open a vintage clothing store Provenzano continued working his 9-5 job as a house painter.

He then found a space that he believed would work in Follansbee that ultimately didn’t work despite him investing his money into the property.

He said that the Fire Marshal said that there was an issue with the Follansbee property and he would not be able to open at that location.

“I was like, all of my dreams are crashed but then I got word that this was open and hurried up and figured out who owned it and called the landlord, got in here and opened up, and now it’s two years later, and I’m still here,” Provenzano said.

He added that, in retrospect, he’s glad that the Follansbee location wasn’t doable because the location was less desirable than being on Center Market.

He said that he grew up going to Center Market because his sister Brittany Burns owned and operated a store called Savvy Divas.

“I used to always come down and hang out here and always wanted a spot down here,” Provenzano said. “I always knew there was an ability to grow and thrive here.”

Opened Tuesday through Saturday, noon until 6 p.m. Provenzano said that he tries to focus on face to face transactions instead of online sales.

“I like in-person buying because they’re like my babies. I like to know where the shirts go. I’m like, ‘why did you buy this shirt?'” Provenzano said. “Some people don’t even know what the shirt is but they like the color or they’ll say that they had the shirt when they were a child, or this is their favorite artist, and you don’t get that when someone just clicks, buys it, and you’re like, ‘Alright, let me ship it out to you.'”

He said that a specific item that flies off the shelves are vintage Wheeling Thunderbirds items.

“People were really excited about them, so I sourced Thunderbird stuff for the last two years. Anywhere I could find it – other other vintage sellers, markets, online and at stores, flea markets. If I found it, I got it,” he said.

This past January, Provenzano attended a Wheeling Nailers game at WesBanco arena and took his collection of Thunderbirds merchandise and took pictures of all of the items hanging on the glass in front of the ice.

“I just wore all of the crew necks in and at the end of the game, we took pictures, and then posted the pictures online a week later. It was super cool, people were at the door when I opened ready to buy the Thunderbirds gear,” Provenzano said. “I think that’s cool, to be able to offer the history that is long gone, people still want a part of the nostalgia.”