We’ve all had shitty coworkers, incompetent bosses, and have dreamed of doing something we love with people we love. We go to college to try and figure out how to make the most money possible while hating our job the least, but for most of us the dream of having our perfect job and working with our best friends, is just that, a dream (I mean they don’t call it a dream job for nothing). For Justin Dwyer and Justin Johnson however, they made that dream a reality.

Johnson and Dwyer are the owners of “Just Bros Vintage”, a new unisex vintage clothing store nestled on the basement level of the McCarthy Building in downtown Syracuse. Accessed through the entrance of Wildflower Armory and down the lobby stairs, Just Bros. is part of a thriving “underground” collection of unique local shops and storefronts.

“My wife you know, she feels a way sometimes because I come to work, and it's not work you know? She's like “you're going to hang out with your friend”, Dwyer said with a smile.

Johnson and Dwyer were both born and raised in Syracuse and their love for the place they grew up runs just as deep as their love for vintage clothes. For both men their obsession with all-over print tees and 90’s windbreakers started with a love for fashion, but as the two men grew up that love for clothes became a much more integral and important part of their lives.

For Johnson, even though he loved clothes, he didn’t initially understand why people loved vintage.

“I used to always go to the thrift store, and I never liked it, all these smelly old clothes, like who wants to buy this?” Johnson said. But with some time and the influence of someone close to him Johnson began to change his views.

“I had a girlfriend, she passed away… but the more and more she went to the thrift, the more and more I used to find stuff”, Johnson said. By 2013 he and his girlfriend had started an ETSY together, where they sold some of their best finds. “It’s just been an addiction ever since”, Johnson continued.

Similarly to Johnson, Dwyer’s love for vintage comes from an important time period in his life.

“In 2016 I got in a really bad motorcycle accident”, Dwyer began. “I couldn’t go back to work for a long time, so I started thrifting to kind of occupy my time and my mind”.

Soon Dwyer had begun to involve himself in the vintage and thrifting community on Facebook and Instagram.

“I couldn't work. So I spent all my days at the thrift store, I went from one to the other and bounced all over and would hoard this stuff”, Dwyer explained. “Then I did a few events and flea markets. It was cool selling there... So I took the leap and I quit my job as a mechanic to pursue this full time”.

Together Dwyer and Johnson have curated a space that mirrors their personalities and passions. Covered wall to wall in memorabilia like lunch boxes, pennants, action figures, and VHS’s, the Just Bros storefront is the closest many of us will ever get to being a “90s baby”.

“As you grow older you have responsibilities, you have a life, it gets serious, and at Just Bros Vintage we want to promote coming in here and getting rid of that and becoming damn near a kid again”, Dwyer said.

The store racks are a haven for anyone who loves cracking prints, washed colors, and graphics that remind you of your childhood. From vintage Mariah Carey T-shirts to an original Coogi sweater that looks like it belongs in a Biggie music video, Just Bros vintage has curated its inventory to meet the needs of any fashion lover. Minute details like the Nintendo console sitting in the corner and the collection of pennants that drape down from the ceiling, help to create a nostalgic atmosphere that fills the store.

Influencers such as Sean Wotherspoon and Emma Chamberlain have elevated the vintage and thrifting landscape to mainstream status. Fast fashion companies like H&M and Urban Outfitters have even begun to create and sell their own “vintage” pieces. Now, anyone can claim to be into “second-hand clothes” with the click of a button on their Tinder profile or an Instagram picture in some distressed jeans, dirty air forces, baseball hat, and a vintage T-shirt. For Justin Dwyer and Justin Johnson however, they are immersed in the vintage and thrifting world.

“I always liked fashion, but vintage is just different to me. It has really saved my life”, Dwyer said.

For both Dwyer and Johnson their love for vintage has acted as an outlet for them to work through problems and express themselves during tough and often tragic times.

“He had to learn to walk again, (because of the) broken bones, I lost the person I started this with, so we could have both forgotten about the passion and this could have never been”, Johnson said. “Me still thrifting keeping her legacy alive and him thrifting in his off time… it’s a blessing I feel as though the only way we can go is up because we’ve already been at the bottom”.

Just Bros vintage is not “just” a store, it’s a community, a space born out of the lives and passions of two men who have seen it all. It’s a place where the often-overbearing weight of responsibility dissolves into the vibrant colors of the 80’s and stress about the future transforms into the feeling of nostalgia that we all so often crave. Whether you’re looking for that perfect vintage rap tee or simply just enjoying an old VHS on the TV, it is impossible not to feel at home at Just Bros vintage.

Follow @just_bros_vintage on Instagram or visit them in person Thursday-Saturday 11-7 and Sunday 12-5