Lane Rice
Audio By Carbonatix
Whispers on the street say GoodKid’s Secret Market is the pop-up of the summer.
GoodKid, a secondhand and vintage shop in the Highlands neighborhood, consists of four fashion-loving friends with a mission to promote sustainability through handpicked thrifted collections.
“The name comes from being a good kid to Mother Earth and trying to help out the planet by saving pieces from going into the landfill,” says Gabby Smith, founder of GoodKid.
The Missouri-native created the brand in the fall of 2020 in her hometown of Kansas City, with a desire to leave a corporate graphic design job and help the environment by giving a second life to pre-owned clothing. What began as garage sales and weekend pop-ups developed into a full-time endeavor in October 2025 when Smith collaborated with her husband Andrew Teegarden and friends Sammy Naser and Maudi Bueno to open a store in Denver.
The prime location at 3460 W. 32nd Ave. draws abundant foot traffic on the street lined with local businesses, restaurants, coffee shops, boutique retail shopping, workout studios, and the Highlands Farmers Market every Sunday from May 10 through Oct. 25.
The Queen Anne-style Victorian home built in 1886 features 1,460 square feet of statement handbags, band tees, leather jackets, nostalgic logos, and various trinkets from the dawn of the digital age. As ‘90s babies, the GoodKid team sources inspiration from the fashion trends of the times. The shop displays racks of vintage (more than 20 years old), true vintage (made before 1970s), and occasional modern pieces all restored to high quality and with ensured longevity of at least an additional decade.
“We’re out there in the streets, finding good stuff and trying to do our best to bring the cool vintage to our community,” Teegarden says. “Every single week we get anywhere from 100 to 250 new pieces that we are putting out on the floor.”
Manifesting a future for fashion that decenters mass production and uplifts the novelty and individuality of shopping secondhand, GoodKid creates new ways to expand their community impact.
Introducing the Secret Market
Next time you wander the Highlands Farmers Market, keep an eye out for hand-drawn street signs and sidewalk chalk scribbles luring you from 32nd Avenue to GoodKid’s back lot, where the Secret Market operates as a hidden community hub of vintage curators, artists and makers.
“The Secret Market was created because we really wanted our store to feel like a community space,” Smith says. “This gives us that opportunity to allow some of these other small businesses to thrive.”
Every Sunday through Oct. 25, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Secret Market transforms the store’s perimeter into an exchange of whimsy and wonder. With coffee and tarot in the front lawn and a back lot boasting 11 rotating vendors and live music performances, this weekly occasion invites guests to get in on the secret and support Denver’s creative economy.
“Being in the pop-up scene for five years, you know the grind,” says the 31-year-old entrepreneur. Smith spoke about the team’s gratitude for growing support from customers, more than 8,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok, and Denver’s vintage community. GoodKid endeavors to provide a platform for other small businesses to receive the same success.
A community of creatives
Smith organizes each weekly lineup of talent to highlight a variety of high-quality and eccentric products and warns guests to “expect to want to buy a little bit of everything.”
Lane Rice
Black Antler Coffee posts up in GoodKid’s front lawn for guests to get their caffeine fix from a supercharged coffee cart, before perusing the rest of the market.
“We’re kind of like the market misfits,” says owner Dan Valenti, who coined his brand the “fastest coffee in Colorado,” bridging his passions of coffee, metal, cars, and motorcycles. “They’re giving chances for small businesses like us that are just starting out and trying to get our name out there.”
Divine Entanglements sells mystical wire-wrapped jewelry that looks straight out of an enchanted fairy garden. Gold, silver, and copper metal snake around gems and beading for eye-catching pieces of handcrafted wearable art.
“I’m extremely grateful and it’s been so much fun,” says Emily Dietz, the artist behind the ethereal jewelry brand. “The vibes are always so positive and the people I’ve met here are fantastic.”
Bud & Bloom Creations artist and owner Bek Kunz calls her work “funky, functional and made for cool people.” Kunz specializes in quirky handmade polymer clay lighter cases, charms, and keychains adorned with celestial and edible caricatures.
Lane Rice
As an original Secret Market vendor attending the Highlands pop-up every week since its opening, Kunz said she enjoys making connections and friends with the creators and attendees.
While speaking with Kunz, she joyfully greeted a returning guest, Braden Nelson, who came back with his adorable dachshund, Olive.
“I wanted you to meet her,” Nelson told Kunz, while holding up the sausage dog, for whom he had purchased olive-themed merchandise the previous weekend. “I got a lighter cover and a sticker covered in olives.”
Interactions like these prove GoodKid successful in its mission to connect the Highlands community to up-and-coming local businesses through the Secret Market.
With rotating lineups of creators, live music from local artists like waxpool and Andie Zuzarte, and shared values of supporting independent vendors, the Secret Market serves as a gathering place for sustainable shopping this summer.
“We’re constantly accepting new people because we want to rotate through to keep the vendors fresh, share the wealth and give other small businesses the opportunity to sell their wares to the Highlands,” says Teegarden.
Interested vendors can apply via the link in GoodKid’s Instagram bio.
Check out GoodKid’s market on Sundays through Oct. 25 and spread the word to help support local artists and makers, in hushed voices, of course. It is a secret after all.
