Hidden Gems: Meet Nicolle Dorman of Mannequin’s Basement

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicolle Dorman.

Hi Nicolle, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi, I’m Nicolle, the owner, vintage curator and event producer at Mannequin’s Basement. My husband/business partner John Michael and I started Mannequin’s Basement in August of 2021 when we were going through many work and life transitions; John Michael worked steadily in the film industry as a set lighting tech and I had just given birth to our second child. The film industry was going through a ton of changes as well and we both had a desire for a lifestyle shift as our family was growing.

Secondhand and sustainability have always been something we’ve valued. Some of our first dates were going to hole-in-the-wall thrift stores and flea markets. Throughout college and when we got married, we would rarely buy things new from the clothes we wore to all of our furniture—we have always enjoyed the hunt for unique items. We had collected a lot of stuff in our many years together from a hefty physical media collection to knick knacks. We had dabbled in online sales over the years but in August of 2021, we signed up for our first vintage pop up market. We began by selling vintage clothing, accessories and VHS tapes at our first events that Fall of 2021.

We hit the ground running and I began vending all over the city and was booked on most weekends. I have vended most of the city festivals around Atlanta like Little 5 Fest, EAV Strut, Chomp & Stomp etc, Scott Antique Markets, and countless local vintage & artist markets all over the city. Our booth is an ever evolving thing; we have sold everything from vintage fast food collectors cups, hundreds of Olympics pins, CRT tvs & VCRS, cameras, clothing, physical media and home decor. MB also enabled us to continue treasure hunting without having to keep everything ourselves. I will follow an estate sale sign or yard sale sign to the ends of the earth. I love a good dig.

After three years of being a pop up vendor, we decided to take the leap and start our own pop up market series in addition to vending. We held our first ever Mannequin’s Basement Market at Space Queen in Candler Park in December 2024. We have been a fixture there ever since hosting 12+ local vintage and artist vendors every month. This year, we launched a physical media market called Mannequin’s Basement Media Market at Parkgrounds in Reynoldstown with the sponsorship of Videodrome. It has been so rewarding to bring the community together at these events and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to work with such amazing local businesses that we admire!

It has been life changing to be able to make our own schedule, run our own events, work together as a family and be a part of the wonderful market community of Atlanta. We have met so many awesome people here through this work—customers and vendor friends. I’m so thankful for all the love and support we have been shown in our five years of business!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
All small businesses come with challenges and we are no exception. When we first began vending, I would wear my infant in a baby carrier and breast-feed her in our booth while our toddler would do activity books in the corner. Balancing my roles as a mother and business owner is not always easy but thankfully John Michael is a supportive partner.
I have been met with challenges as a woman in a leadership role. I have been cyber bullied, gaslit and manipulated by both men and women. I have always strived to lead with kindness and empathy while also knowing when to set boundaries for my own sake and in order to protect the spaces we’ve created.
We’ve pivoted and adapted many times between shopping trends and an always changing economy. Vending markets is extremely unpredictable and there are many things out of our control, like the weather for example. We have worked hard for everything we’ve achieved, but it has not been an easy or clear cut path by any means.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Mannequin’s Basement is a mom and pop run business. We’ve built a reputation of having something for everyone. Our booth’s offerings are very diverse and at affordable price points—the whole family/friend group can find something at Mannequin’s Basement.
If you come out to a market, you’ll see me setting up and running the booth. I do most of the people facing and administrative tasks like booking vendors, sending emails, event planning/logistics, making internet content, running the social media account, and responding to interviews lol. John Michael is the graphic designer for all of our market flyers (@skeletonitez), he runs the electrical/audio side of our events and takes care of our kids on market days. We both do all the sourcing/pricing/packing of the inventory. It’s a constant juggling act but we have been able to find a good balance!
Our interests and personalities are reflected in our business so Mannequin’s Basement has a way of attracting other likeminded people and connecting others as well. We love our growing community of friends!

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
We have taken many risks, the first would be starting this business in the first place! Another would be betting on ourselves and launching our own markets when we saw a need. There have been incredible highs and lows, sometimes all in the same day. But it was an important decision to allow ourselves to take a leap, take a big risk and do something we enjoy as a job and do it together. We have learned so much and grown as people and as a business, in more ways than we could have expected. We’re so grateful to everyone that has supported Mannequin’s Basement in Atlanta! To every customer, for every sale, every vendor and local business we’ve worked with—thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Follow us on instagram @mannequinsbasement and we hope to see you at a market soon!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mannequinsbasement