Q&A with Go Commando
Vintage military clothing stall Go Commando tells us about their Portobello Road Market stall.
Tell us about Go Commando - what do you sell, when did you start, how long have you been trading at Portobello market? How did you come up with the name for your business?
Go Commando has been around approximately 10 years. We started off trading in the apple market in Covent Garden, then we moved to Brick Lane and around 5 years ago we started trading in Portobello Road every Friday and I think we have only missed around 2 or 3 Fridays in the last 5 years. Occasionally we trade on a Saturday but we prefer to trade just on a Friday as we’re in other markets at the weekend.
Since Covid what changes have you made to how you operate your business? How important is social media now compared to before?
Took us quite some time to come up with a name for the business. I wanted something that would bring a smile to people's faces, but also let people know that we dealt in military surplus clothing. After going through hundreds and hundreds of different names, I suddenly came up with the idea of Go Commando. A friend of mine helped me to come up with a logo, also with my daughter's help. It’s a little monkey with a bit of camouflage on that’s going commando.
What inspired you to sell vintage Military clothing?
Since COVID there have been a lot of changes to the business, first of all, it's very easy to put your head in the sand and do nothing, but we felt that we had to make changes to survive. Something I’ve always hated the thought of doing is going online, I like to be in contact and talk to people. We have now gone online and have a website www.gocommandolondon.com , an ebay shop which I didn't have before and we do a lot of work on Instagram with the help from both my wife and daughter. We have built up almost 5000 followers now. It has taken us quite some time but it's been a great form of revenue over COVID and it’s meant we can survive. The ebay shop is doing very well and even the website is working quite well.
Do you have any hopes or aspirations for when things get back to normal?
I've often been asked what inspired me to sell military and vintage clothing and it’s really quite simple, a friend of mine told me they knew I wasn't very happy in my current job which was a chartered building surveyor. I literally had enough of what I was doing and wanted a big change in my life and have always enjoyed the markets. My first ever job was working in Wembley market when I was 15 selling army surplus. A friend of mine told me there was a spare pitch at Covent Garden and if I had a thought of an idea that was something different to what was being sold, I would get in there. I immediately walked in and saw that nobody was selling military and there we go… the rest is history.
Where can customers find you online?
As I’ve said before customers can find us online at www.gocommandolondon.com , we also have an eBay page with the same name and you can also find us on Instagram @go_commando and Facebook @GuruGear
What advice would you give to other businesses in the area?
If I had to give any advice to other businesses in the area it would be; adapt, you have to adapt, you have to find other markets, you have to find other ways of getting to the market that you want to get to. A lot of my market is international, I’m now selling a lot of my stuff straight to Japan, Germany, Poland, the US, using UPS and getting it to them within 4-5 days
Where would you recommend a friend to go and eat and drink in Portobello?
The Morrocan Fish Stall or Juice Bar opposite my stall.