“I like vintage clothes,” Mako Nishii says, sitting in a room with enough of it to clothe a small army. The store is Be-pop, a vintage clothing outlet he opened with business partner Endo Tomotsu in December 2004 on Villa Street, near Castro. “Most people like new stuff, but there’s a lot of good stuff from the back-days,” he adds.
Mako is a shy 39-year-old. Though graying at the temples, his skin shows little sign of age. He wears a blue shirt by OP, one of his favorite designers.
Originally from Japan, Mako moved to the Bay Area in 1990. At first he worked as a chef and dealt in vintage clothing on the weekends. “I just go shopping on the weekend, I send to Japan. Then I have enough stuff to fill my own business,” he says.
Impressed by the vintage shops in San Francisco, Mako opened his own shop so people wouldn’t have to drive to The City for their kitsch fix. “In Mountain View downtown, there are only restaurants, no fun place,” Mako says.
Responding to comments on his merchandise, Mako smiles and quotes the line most often heard by his shoppers: “I used to have this, I used to have this.” He points out “Star Wars” bed sheets, big-print polyester shirts, and a tabletop Pac-Man console. “A lot of people like this, and that’s my pleasure.”
Editor’s Note: SnapShot is an effort to give Voice readers an inside look at the people who make Mountain View one of the liveliest cities on the Peninsula. Watch for future installments in this space.
E-mail Elizabeth Lasky at elasky@mv-voice.com
