Chicago Vintage Lovers Pack Retirement Sale For 82-Year-Old Screen Printer — And There’s More To Come

LOGAN SQUARE — After 40 years as a pioneering screen printer, vintage purveyor and clothing wholesaler, 82-year-old Rajni Doshi was ready to call it quits. There was only one problem: what to do with the warehouse full of clothes he has amassed over the years. That’s where the owner of Wicker Park streetwear and vintage store Boneyard Chicago stepped in. Tony Jankun, Boneyard’s owner, helped organize and promote a retirement sale for Doshi at the longtime clothing merchant’s Logan Square warehouse Saturday. The event saw as many as 600 neighbors come out to buy Doshi’s wares, Jankun said. All items for sale were priced between $2 and $10. Doshi said he had around 50,000 items left in inventory that remained in boxes in his warehouse at 2323 N. Pulaski Road, from vintage Chicago sports T-shirts dating to the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s to sweatshirts, pants and jackets. One of the T-shirts on display had a screen print of the Chicago Tribune’s front page from 2005 when the White Sox won the World Series. As Doshi welcomed customers into the warehouse, customers could tell he was shocked by the turnout from neighbors who wanted to help him retire. A line of people wrapped around the warehouse for the duration of the sale. “He was very surprised with the turnout,” said Jankun. “He thought we were going to sell just a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff.” The sale was so successful that one more is planned to help Doshi finally be able to retire. “I just want to clean it all out, have the building for sale and retire,” Doshi said. Boneyard is planning a second sale for Doshi 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Nov. 21-22 at the Pulaski Road warehouse to sell any additional clothing before Doshi finally calls it quits. Doshi moved from India to Chicago at a young age and grew up in the city, eventually attending Trine University in Indiana, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Long before Doshi started working in the clothing business, he worked at Boeing as an engineer for six years in the 1960s, during the Cold War. At Boeing, Doshi said he was hired to help the U.S. military expedite orders on airplane parts. He also helped with technical drawings for military equipment and aircraft, including Boeing 747s and 707s. After 15 years in engineering, Doshi said a company he worked for that supplied electrical switches to Commonwealth Edison relocated to Virginia. He didn’t want to move away from Chicago, so Doshi quit and within a few months, an acquaintance approached him about screen-printing t-shirts. Doshi opened up his own screen printing shop in 1983 in Irving Park. Business did so well within the first year, he realized he didn’t need to go back to engineering. “Nobody thought that when I was working at Boeing that I would start selling t-shirts and make the same money,” said Doshi. “But I had worked 15 years for the military and used experience with quality control and marketing to sell.” Doshi went on to work as one of four Chicago wholesale distributors for Fruit of the Loom. View this post on Instagram In 2006, Doshi closed his screen printing business and wholesale business and has been selling his remaining stock on eBay ever since. “When we started selling, there was no online,” he said. “The internet started after 2000, so everything was by phone and advertised in a magazine.” Now, Doshi said he is ready to retire altogether to spend more time with his children and three grandchildren. Doshi explained that he hoped the sale would help find homes for what is left of his vintage inventory so it doesn’t go to waste. Doshi also said he plans to sell his warehouse in Logan Square in the coming months. ______________________________________________________________________ Support Local News! Subscribe to Block Club Chicago , an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription , or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation. Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast: Are Illinois Republicans An Endangered Species After The Blue Tsunami? Episode play icon Are Illinois Republicans An Endangered Species After The Blue Tsunami? Episode play icon From Stoves To Overhead Heat: The History Of The CTA’s Warming Lamps Episode play icon Should Chicago Have Public Festival Grounds? It’s On The Ballot. Load More Search Results placeholder Previous Episode Show Episodes List Next Episode