Take a stroll down West Maple Road in downtown Birmingham, Michigan, about 20 miles northwest of Detroit, and you’ll come across a small boutique shop that looks like the boxes in your parent’s attic have been thoroughly combed through, dusted and assembled into a display.

This is ABC Vintage, a place where Detroit’s sports history and fashion collide with the rarity of the Big Bang. It’s also home to arguably the largest collection of vintage Detroit sportswear in the world.

“It never dies,” said Joey Skinn, manager at ABC Vintage. “(Vintage clothing) is the only thing in fashion that never goes out of style.”

Co-owned by Aaron Cohen and Mike Pang, the store always stocks forgotten, lost and one-of-a-kind clothing from Detroit’s four major professional sports teams, as well as the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, other sports teams, music artists and movies.

Each “sports piece,” as vintage fans like to call the clothing, was made in the 1970s, ’80s, ’90s or early 2000s by well-known clothing companies like Chalk Line or Starter and by fashion designers like Jeff Hamilton. Others are “bootlegs” from that era – garments that often illegally use sports team logos or variations thereof, made by civilians and sold from the trunks of cars or hung on nearby fences during major sporting events in the city.

Aaron Cohen, co-owner of ABC Vintage in Birmingham, Michigan, holds a bootleg t-shirt from the 2000s Michigan State basketball team. (Courtesy of James L. Edwards III)

ABC Vintage has over 200 vintage pieces from the Lions, Pistons, Red Wings and Tigers on the shelves or hidden away. Depending on the season, the store highlights one team more than another.

Current and former Detroit athletes privately purchase rare vintage pieces from the teams they currently play for or other teams in the city at ABC. Wives and girlfriends of the Detroit Lions had the opportunity to privately purchase vintage pieces earlier this month. Athletes who come to the Motor City for their respective league’s schedule also stop by, such as Kyle Kuzma of Flint. Touring musicians such as Zach Bryan and Fred Durst have used ABC to purchase unique pieces to wear on stage that night. Artists such as Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and rapper Russ have also helped out. Local Detroit rappers such as BabyTron, Babyface Ray and 42 Dugg are frequent visitors.

Cohen and the rest of his ABC Vintage team aren’t alone in stumbling upon these rarities. Much of their inventory comes from a handful of local collectors and consignors that Cohen works with, who he considers “the best in the Midwest.” These vintage shoppers find “grail” pieces in storage units, abandoned houses, thrift stores across the country, basements, attics, or may even have connections to people who were directly involved with Detroit sports teams during those times.

“There are so many creative ways to access pieces from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s,” Cohen said.

Sometimes it can be easier to find rare pieces.

For example, just before the Lions’ playoffs began last season, Cohen stumbled upon a blue Lions varsity jacket from the late 1980s or early 1990s for sale online on eBay that was as rare as any piece he had ever seen. The jacket was similar to the one worn by Eddie Murphy in the movie “Beverly Hills Cop,” except the base color was blue instead of black.

Ironically, around this time, Cohen and his team sold a local customer a 1980s Lions jacket identical to the one Murphy wore in “Beverly Hills Cop” for $750. The jacket, produced by Chalk Line, has “Team NFL” sewn onto one of its beige leather sleeves and an “NFC” badge on the other. The Lions helmet is embroidered on the front, and an even larger one is attached to the back with the words “Detroit Lions” sandwiched into it.

Aaron Cohen, co-owner of ABC Vintage in Birmingham, Michigan, holds a vintage Chalk Line jacket from the 1990s. (Courtesy of James L. Edwards III)

Cohen was surprised to see that the seller was only asking for $199, which was the retail price at the time. He thought it was a fake, because the price of vintage Lions clothing has nearly quadrupled since the franchise, which became the first team in NFL history to go 0-16 and go 31 years without a single playoff win, made it to the NFC Championship game last season, according to Cohen. He was surprised that someone would offer this particular piece at this price, as he is aware of the demand and lack of supply for something so old in the current vintage climate.

“It seemed too good to be true,” Cohen recalled.

To put his mind at ease and ensure his little skepticism didn’t miss out on the rare piece, Cohen wrote to the salesperson, who informed him that the jacket had been sold in the ’90s at Pace Membership Warehouse. Pace is now what we know as Sam’s Club. Cohen believed the salesperson and sent Skinn 40 miles away to meet the gentleman and check the size label, stitching and product licenses, which are obvious indicators of whether an item is considered “real” or “fake.”

What happened after Skinn met the man who sold the jacket continues to amaze everyone at ABC Vintage to this day.

“He showed me the jacket we were going to buy and it fit,” Skinn said. “As I was leaving, he said, ‘I just wanted to let you know, I have a couple more of these jackets. I bought them for my sons, but they didn’t want them.’ It was crazy. I got in the car and called Aaron and told him the jackets were perfect.”

The back of the Chalk Line Lions jacket from the 1990s. (Courtesy of James L. Edwards III)

ABC Vintage also has pieces that it doesn’t know what to do with due to their rarity, whether they’re test pressings or misprints that were never meant to see the light of day. Locked away in a basement and not yet made for sale, there’s a vintage t-shirt that, on the surface, looks like a teal Pistons piece from the 1990s. However, if you look at the back of the shirt, it features a drawing of a Lions quarterback throwing a pass to a wide receiver.

Next to it is a black Pistons T-shirt with a caricature of Rick Mahorn, but underneath it says “Joe Dumas.” On the back is a caricature of Vinnie “The Microwave” Johnson with his real name, but if you turn the shirt over, you’ll find a caricature of John “The Spider” Salley with his real name.

“I don’t even know how much to charge for something like that,” Cohen says, laughing.

The prices for rare vintage items can be daunting to the layman. Vintage hats, shirts, sweatshirts and jackets at ABC Vintage can cost anywhere from $30 to several hundred dollars. Today, these bootlegs from the ’80s and ’90s can fetch hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars on the resale market due to their rarity.

The average person might laugh at the $650 price tag for the smelly, 30-year-old Chalk Line Lions jacket that Cohen discovered by chance and bought for around $200. However, those who know vintage know how these price points are determined – such as the rarity of the item, the condition, how many patches something has, leather trim, which clothing company made it, and many other things – and are willing to pay the high price to keep what many in those circles consider art. Almost every piece ABC Vintage houses is in fair to very good condition despite its age.

“The first vintage T-shirt I thought was cool was a 50 Cent shirt,” says Mitch Mulcahey, a 25-year-old ABC Warehouse sales clerk and vintage fan. “It was one of the first rap songs I ever heard, ‘In Da Club’ by 50 Cent. When I saw this shirt from that era and the original watermark with the year on it, I thought it was cool.”

“I love fashion and I love dressing up. It all came down to how cool the design was and the quality. You can’t find anything better than the quality of those shirts from that era, especially when they break down over time and the fabric is soft. You can’t imitate something like that. I think that’s what makes vintage special.

“I wasn’t around then, but I can appreciate the crazy bootlegs and the art they put into that stuff. They don’t do that anymore.”

A framed Bob Probert memorabilia owned by Aaron Cohen, co-owner of ABC Vintage, featuring the rare, fake vintage piece Probert wore during games. (Courtesy of James L. Edwards III)

Not only is it nearly impossible to find a fake Detroit Red Wings skull and crossbones “Bad Boys” shirt, which the late, legendary enforcer Bob Probert often wore under his jersey while playing for the NHL franchise in the late ’80s and early ’90s, but you’re even less likely to find one in good condition.

These items are no longer just lying around and easily accessible, if people keep them at all. And if they do, they don’t often show up on any of the virtual marketplaces. However, ABC Vintage has somehow hidden several of them in its vault.

The “Bad Boys”-inspired bootleg Red Wings piece was often worn by Bob Probert and other Red Wings that ABC Vintage keeps in its shop. (Courtesy of James L. Edwards III)

“Some things are priced that way because you might not necessarily want to sell them right away,” Cohen said. “Yes, it’s a business and you want to bring someone into the piece, but I also want to be able to tell a story with my business. I also want to try to find a second piece if possible, or it’s a marketing or promotional decision.”

“If I only produced rare vintage Lions jackets every day… one particular one, in good condition, with lots of patches, the back is right, the leather is right… there’s a chance I wouldn’t get my hands on another one.”

The popularity of vintage continues to rise. People hunt for pieces to make a lot of money. Some dig to find a part of their childhood they thought was lost. The beauty of all culture is in the eye of the beholder.

In the Detroit area, however, ABC Vintage caters to those who appreciate their sports teams, history and fashion as much as they do. The pieces in their store evoke memories, conversations and emotions. These things are priceless.

“It’s like art,” Skinn said. “Wearable art.”

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