During the months North LBJ Drive in downtown San Marcos has undergone construction, Vagabond Vintage owner David Marrs said he has seen some of his neighbors close up shop.

Vagabond Vintage, however, has shown it has staying power. And with work scheduled to be completed by the end of September, according to the city of San Marcos, Marrs said he is hopeful downtown will see a resurgence.

Improvements such as widened sidewalks, repaved streets, replacement of water mains and the installment of bike lanes total about $6.5 million.

Marrs said he is optimistic those upgrades will attract more tourism in the downtown district, which he said is often bypassed for nearby cities such as New Braunfels and Wimberley.

"Going from construction to not construction is automatically going to be better," he said. "My hope is that it will ... bring people in."

The vintage clothing store sells retro T-shirts, jeans, accessories and footwear.

The business thrives during the fall and spring semesters at Texas State University, as Vagabond Vintage has largely banked on the growing student population throughout the years, Marrs said. In summer, when fewer students are in town, traffic to the store declines, he said. If downtown San Marcos can become more of a tourist attraction, then perhaps the shop would be a lot more profitable in the summer, he said.

Marrs moved to Austin from East Texas in 1998 with an eye toward owning his own vintage shop in town. He said he had been in the vintage clothing business "off and on" since the early 1990s. But Austin rent rates even then were out of his price range, he said, and he began to set his sights on San Marcos. In 2001, when Marrs opened his shop, no one else was selling vintage clothing in San Marcos, he said.

Celebrating its 13th anniversary in August, Marrs' shop at 320 N. LBJ Drive has seen some competitors surface throughout the years. Retro Exchange, just a few doors down at 314 N. LBJ Drive, is one of Marrs' "friendly" competitors, he said.

"There are enough people here that we can both benefit from it," Marrs said. "It'll make it like a little scene, I guess you could say."

Vagabond Vintage caters to a wide variety of customers, including Texas State fraternities and sororities that host theme parties throughout the school year. The shop has also gained a reputation for its quality supply of cowboy boots, Marrs said.

"[Customers] know what a pair of boots cost and how expensive they are," he said. "So if they come here and get a pair of Luccheses for $60, they're happy."

The bedrock of most vintage stores, Marrs said, are the T-shirts, which usually date to the late 1980s and earlier. Now T-shirts from the 1990s are becoming vintage, he said.

Despite his shop's success, Marrs said he maintains a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Vagabond Vintage's Facebook page states the store "refuses to go quietly into the night."

Although tongue-in-cheek, the choice of words reflects the underdog role he said he has played as a business owner.

When Vagabond first opened, a customer told Marrs how great his shop was but that it probably would not last very long, he said.

"There is always something fighting against you," he said. "[But] I'm always going to persevere."

Flying off the shelves

Among the items owner David Marrs carries at his shop are jeans, jackets and accessories; but he said these items are typically his top sellers:

• Clothing and accessories often bought for theme parties thrown by the Greek organizations at Texas State University
• Cowboy boots
• Vintage T-shirts
• Ugly Christmas sweaters

320 N. LBJ Drive, San Marcos, 512-554-1891

Hours: Mon.–Sat. 12:30–7 p.m.