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Emily Schmidt Riddle is the face behind popular local fashion blog Miss Molly Vintage. She provides style tips, shopping links and more on her blog – and is currently working on her biggest project to date. Photo furnished
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Obsessed with all things vintage from a young age, Riddle sells vintage and vintage-inspired items in her signature style (“Southern eclectic”) in the Miss Molly Vintage online store and the Feather Your Nest booth she and her mother co-own. Photo furnished
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Obsessed with all things vintage from a young age, Riddle sells vintage and vintage-inspired items in her signature style (“Southern eclectic”) in the Miss Molly Vintage online store and the Feather Your Nest booth she and her mother co-own. Photo furnished
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Miss Molly Vintage hallmark items are affordable and trendy. Inventory, which includes clothing, jewelry and home decor items, is posted regularly on Instagram (@missmollyvintage). Photo furnished
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Miss Molly Vintage hallmark items are affordable and trendy. Inventory, which includes clothing, jewelry and home decor items, is posted regularly on Instagram (@missmollyvintage). Photo furnished
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Miss Molly Vintage hallmark items are affordable and trendy. Inventory, which includes clothing, jewelry and home decor items, is posted regularly on Instagram (@missmollyvintage). Photo furnished
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Emily and Alex Riddle recently purchased the historic Amsden building in downtown Versailles, and are renovating and seeking tenants for the mixed-use space. They hope to see a coffee shop, beer hall, retail shop and office space open there this fall. Photo furnished
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Emily and Alex Riddle recently purchased the historic Amsden building in downtown Versailles, and are renovating and seeking tenants for the mixed-use space. They hope to see a coffee shop, beer hall, retail shop and office space open there this fall. Photo by Sarah Dunn
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Riddle and her husband recently renovated a historic Versailles farmhouse, documenting the entire process on her blog. Photo by Sarah Dunn
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Riddle and her husband recently renovated a historic Versailles farmhouse, documenting the entire process on her blog. Photo by Sarah Dunn
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Riddle and her husband recently renovated a historic Versailles farmhouse, documenting the entire process on her blog. Photo by Sarah Dunn
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Riddle and her husband recently renovated a historic Versailles farmhouse, documenting the entire process on her blog. Photo by Sarah Dunn
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Riddle and her husband recently renovated a historic Versailles farmhouse, documenting the entire process on her blog. Photo by Sarah Dunn
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Riddle and her husband recently renovated a historic Versailles farmhouse, documenting the entire process on her blog. Photo by Sarah Dunn
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Riddle and her husband recently renovated a historic Versailles farmhouse, documenting the entire process on her blog. Photo by Sarah Dunn
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Riddle and her husband recently renovated a historic Versailles farmhouse, documenting the entire process on her blog. Photo by Sarah Dunn
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Photo by Sarah Dunn
For as long as she can remember, Emily Schmidt Riddle has been scouring garage sales with her mother, Missy Schmidt, searching for “treasures.” As a little girl, Riddle purchased dishes, aprons and napkins for the pretend diner she managed from her childhood bedroom. Today, that longtime love of vintage treasures has evolved into Miss Molly Vintage, a burgeoning multi-faceted business that the mother-daughter duo run together. While the primary hub for Miss Molly – which is named after their family dog – is a booth in the Meadowthorpe antique market Feather Your Nest, the business has expanded in recent years to include a popular fashion blog, an online shopping component, and style and decorating services.
Not content to stop there, however, Riddle is currently in the throes of her biggest endeavor yet: renovating a large historic building in downtown Versailles that will house offices, a coffee shop, beer hall and Riddle’s first full-scale retail store.
“My dream was always to have my own retail space,” Riddle said. “I held off for years until I found the right space at the right time.”
Timing might be an essential element in any successful business, but Riddle has forged a steady path to get to this juncture in her career, laying the groundwork over the past seven years.
Originally from Lexington, she attended the University of Kentucky to study art education and worked throughout college at the Moore Drive vintage store Street Scene. While there, she started to realize she could parlay her passion for vintage into a profession and started sharing Street Scene’s pre-existing booth at Feather Your Nest as a place to sell her own vintage finds. But with her section overflowing with finds, she soon realized she needed her own space, partnering with her mom to open their own booth in 2010.
The online shop and fashion blog were added to the Miss Molly Vintage brand in 2015, coinciding with growing popularity of the photo-sharing app Instagram.
“At first, I broke all the rules by posting dozens of photos a day, but it worked,” she said of those early days. “I was selling 75 percent of the items listed.”
Today Riddle’s account (@missmollyvintage) has over 10,000 followers, and she sees the platform as an integral part of growing her business and reinforcing her brand.
In the spring of 2016, Riddle’s love of all things with history and charm led her, along with her husband, Alex, to purchase a foreclosed 100-year-old farmhouse in Versailles. The couple began restoring the property to its former glory, while incorporating lots of modern updates and amenities. Riddle decided to document the entire renovation experience in a segment of her blog, titled “Our Fixer Upper” – which she soon discovered to be driving much more traffic to her website than she had originally anticipated. After hearing from a bevy of readers who loved her “cozy and pulled together” style but were not comfortable trying to re-create it on their own, she added a new arm to Miss Molly Vintage that offers a full range of design services, including interiors, holiday decorating and event styling. (There is now a waiting list for these services.)
“I was so surprised at how many people latched on and followed the renovation,” she said. “People would recognize me and come up and say, ‘I love your blog. I’m watching you renovate. I’ve always dreamed of doing that.’”
The residential remodel was so rewarding for Riddle and her husband that they felt inspired to tackle a commercial rehab, purchasing the Amsden Building in downtown Versailles earlier this year.
“Every time we’d drive by it, I’d say, ‘That’s the coolest building. I wish someone would do something with it,’” Riddle said. When the price was drastically reduced, she realized she and her husband could be that someone.
“Both of us are passionate about revitalizing the downtown and giving people a place to go and things to do,” she said.
Formerly a bank and police station annex, the 4,000-square-foot space will house offices, a coffee shop, beer hall and Riddle’s first full-scale retail store. The couple is currently accepting applications for tenants, with intentions to wrap up the first phase of remodels this fall.
The Miss Molly brand has grown to encompass far more than vintage and now includes a wide variety of new products from Kentucky artisans and makers, as well as new home-decor items. All of these items, as well as clothing and jewelry in Riddle’s signature style – which she refers to as “Southern eclectic” – will be available at the retail shop, which will also boast a fresh flower and plant bar.
And, the couple plans to continue expanding their efforts to reinvigorate Versailles.
“This is just the first of many buildings. We’d love to add to the downtown scene, make it a destination and draw people from Lexington, as well,” she said. “Making it a place for a day trip and somewhere fun to go on Friday night is our goal.”
On many weekends, you can still find Riddle exploring garage sales with her mother. But she has come a long way from the little girl buying plates for her pretend restaurant. Miss Molly Vintage is thriving. To others yearning to turn their passion into their livelihood, Riddle offers this encouragement: “Go for it. Take the first step. Get excited and don’t be afraid to tell people about it. That makes you accountable. If you’re passionate and believe in your idea, it won’t feel like work and success will come.”
To learn more about Miss Molly Vintage and to see more pictures of the Riddles’ home makeover and the Amsden Building renovations, visit www.missmollyvintage.com.