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Redesigned vintage clothing gradually brought together Syracuse University alumni Jean Mariah and Abigail Minicozzi. After Mariah did a photoshoot for Minicozzi’s clothing business, the two became close. When Mariah visited The Cherry Pit, a store that Abigail and co-owner Michelle Pfaff opened, she admired their success in running a business from such a young age.

Mariah eventually became best friends with Abigail, borrowing clothes and getting first dibs on items. Mariah said it’s been a joy to watch Abigail develop her designs and grow into understanding her style.

“Thank you to The Cherry Pit, it brought me my best friend, and I got a lot of really cool clothes out of it,” Mariah said.

On Feb. 28, the four co-owners — Pfaff, Abigail and Lilyan Minicozzi and Alexandria Penak — will close The Cherry Pit to pursue individual endeavors in fashion and retail.

“It’s a beautiful thing that we were able to create in Syracuse, and its ending is sad but we brought so much community together,” Abigail said.

The Cherry Pit in Wildflowers Armory started as a collective to sell handmade and curated vintage clothing and accessories to a Syracuse audience. After years of clothing swaps, sales and pop-ups, The Cherry Pit has upheld the same mission of promoting sustainability and secondhand shopping while growing into a beloved community resale store.

Abigail decided she wanted to open her own storefront in the building after hosting pop-up clothing sales at Wildflowers Armory during the beginning of her freshman year at SU. She met co-founder Pfaff, who instantly loved Abigail’s clothes, through one of her pop-ups.

McCarthy Mercantile founder Michael John Heagerty saw potential in Pfaff and Abigail Minicozzi. With his background in operating stores, he pushed the two secondhand clothing sellers to merge their talents into The Cherry Pit. The two signed the lease in January 2021 and officially opened the shop.

Ella Chan | Assistant Photo Editor

Customers search and shop for clothes at The Cherry Pit, a local vintage store in Syracuse. The shop keeps its distinct vibe with disco balls and fairy lights dangling from the ceiling.

Though putting together two people who never ran a physical store before was a bit of an experiment, watching the store grow and become a recognized brand in the Syracuse area was rewarding for Heagerty.

“I remember sitting around it (the table) and I said, ‘I’m telling you right now, you’re going to do something special, because you each possess a different quality, that, when combined, is going to be the perfect hybrid of retail,’” Heagerty said. “And off they went.”

Penak began selling her personal shop, Street Cat Vintage, at The Cherry Pit in fall 2021. Pfaff and Abigail had been following Penak’s shop on Instagram and became fond of her style, so they reached out to see if she’d be interested in joining the team.

The Cherry Pit collective consists of clothing and accessories from four independent businesses, one from each of the co-owners. By closing The Cherry Pit’s brick and mortar storefront, the owners will embark on developing their personal shops.

The four owners started selling clothing and accessories online through Depop and Instagram before joining forces at The Cherry Pit. Over the past four years, they’ve sold their wide range of personal tastes.

Ella Chan | Assistant Photo Editor

Alexandria Penak is one of four Cherry Pit owners. When the store closes, she plans to expand her own business.

Abigail runs Holy Gail, where she sells her handmade designs, and is pursuing a career in fashion design. Meanwhile, her younger sister, Lilyan, is upcycling and creating custom jewelry through her shop LilacSun.

The Minicozzi sisters have always been interested in fashion. The two created a business when they were younger and sold handmade bracelets in their front yard. To Lilyan, running their businesses together in The Cherry Pit is reminiscent of what they did when they were little, and has helped them grow and stay connected in their passions. Abigail said it’s been fun for them to be involved in the retail side of the fashion industry at such a young age.

Fawnd Vintage, run by Pfaff, is planning to expand to other Syracuse locations, such as the Syracuse Antiques Exchange, and sell more items online. Penak will continue selling her curation of clothes, Street Cat Vintage, in the same space The Cherry Pit occupied, but she’ll now sell alongside vintage seller Fragile Threads. Their new shop will combine their two names into Fragile Cat, set to open around mid-March, Penak said.

While The Cherry Pit’s will no longer have a physical shop, their Instagram account will continue. The co-owners plan to still do some story sales and promote their individual businesses as they continue on their journeys, Pfaff said.

“I already know (the co-owners) are going to succeed in whatever they put their heads to, because I’ve been firsthand side-by-side with them since day one,” Heagerty said.

Before The Cherry Pit, Pfaff sold clothes for a couple years on Instagram and thought it would be good to learn from someone younger. Between her and Abigail’s individual brands, they each bring in different connections.

When the shop opened, Abigail was 18 and Pfaff was in her mid-20s. The age difference was a cool dynamic, Pfaff said, because the two could blend together different clothing styles in the store. They started off as strangers, but they’ve clicked well over time. Pfaff said she’s enjoyed watching Abigail go through her college years and pursue her dreams.

“I’ve learned so much from her,” Pfaff said. “My style and my view — I always give her credit, she’s really inspired me.”

Ella Chan | Assistant Photo Editor

Michelle Pfaff, a Cherry Pit co-owner, sits next to the shop’s mannequins. Although she is saddened by the store’s eventual closing, she is grateful for the friendships and memories it’s given her.

While Pfaff’s focus is more on vintage bohemian, earth and fairy-inspired styles, Allie brought in what Pfaff calls “a badass biker style” she’s really enjoyed seeing. Abigail presents her own designs and thrifted curations, while Lilyan offers handmade accessories and upcycled items, like candles that have a piece of jewelry at the bottom.

The eclectic and diverse range of styles found at The Cherry Pit shows people how fashion can be anything for anyone, Abigail said. The owners are often inspired to try new clothes because of their style differences. Penak said after seeing different items that Pfaff and Abigail brought in, she’s broadened her horizons when she thrifts.

Penak used to rely mainly on Instagram to sell her personal shop, but selling at The Cherry Pit has been a game changer for her. It’s brought her brand more visibility, and she’s met more people in the vintage clothing world.

Lilyan, an SU junior studying industrial design, joined the collective in January of 2023 when Abigail went abroad to London. She’s been selling her brand, LilacSun, since she was a junior in high school, and had a vending space upstairs in Wildflowers Armory before joining The Cherry Pit. LilacSun’s work focuses on curated and upcycled clothing, as well as handmade items like jewelry and chain mail pieces.

At the end of the day, what’s most important to the co-owners is the way the four of them have worked together as a team to run the business, and everyone who’s helped along the way.

While the owners attribute much of their growth to Heagerty, he’s not the only person who has contributed to The Cherry Pit’s community of sustainable and vintage fashion lovers. Abigail credits Pfaff for her smart marketing tactics, and each of the owners bringing in their own pockets of people, including friends, family and classmates. SU students have been their biggest demographic of shoppers, Penak said.

Sitting in class during her days at SU, Abigail would perk up when she heard people talking about The Cherry Pit. It was the “coolest thing ever” when she saw people on campus or at a party wearing clothes that she sold at The Cherry Pit.

Mariah said The Cherry Pit was a go-to spot to get clothes for going out, and their friends always had a Cherry Pit sticker on their laptop or phone.

The Cherry Pit has become an integral part of the fashion and secondhand vintage culture at SU, industrial design junior Sarah Mason said. Close friends with Lilyan and Abigail, Mason said The Cherry Pit’s sourcing and prices drew in SU students.

Cole Ross | Digital Design Director

“They make the work they’ve been doing super accessible to students, on top of being a really awesome collection of style and community,” Mason said.

Pfaff said they’ve loved learning what they want to create and put out into the vintage community, whether it’s staying at Wildflowers Armory or moving on to other things. When The Cherry Pit started, secondhand clothing shops weren’t as popular in the Syracuse area as today, she said.

As one of the first stores that opened in the lower level of Wildflowers Armory, The Cherry Pit’s owners watched other shops open downstairs, like Just Bros Vintage and Forget Me Not, and built close relationships with the new shops owners. Pfaff said it’s been wonderful for the four of them to be part of a small business community where they can support other local Syracuse businesses as well.

“I’m just happy to be a part of what I feel was like revolutionizing the Syracuse vintage scene,” Pfaff said.

For the past four years, The Cherry Pit has garnered a community of vintage shoppers who prefer curated pieces to places like Destiny Mall, Pfaff and Abigail said. They’ve hosted a total of 15 clothing swaps, offering an efficient and sustainable way to find new clothing items. Pfaff said it’s been wonderful to see the long term impact they’ve made.

Lilyan said she’s loved seeing fellow SU students meet at The Cherry Pit and destress from school or find a community of like-minded people. Sometimes operating the shop gets busy, but the outpour of support on Instagram in light of The Cherry Pit’s closure has shown Lilyan their influence over the years. The Cherry Pit’s legacy as a space for the community to participate in sustainable fashion is long-lasting, Lilyan said.

“You don’t actually see the impact that’s happening,” Lilyan said. “Now that it’s ending, we’re more aware of the impact that it had.”

Published on February 20, 2025 at 1:15 am

Contact Mia: mjones58@syr.edu