NostalgiaNique: A Flair For Vintage

What happens when a passion for history, design, and sustainability merges with modern technology? NostalgiaNique, the brainchild of Nicholas Sigamoney, is more than just an antique store—it’s a celebration of timeless craftsmanship and a commitment to a better tomorrow. 

In this exclusive interview, Nicholas shares the journey behind his brand, his meticulous curation process, and the heartfelt stories that make each piece a cherished memory. Discover how NostalgiaNique is bridging the gap between nostalgia and innovation while championing sustainability and customer trust.

Nicholas Sigamoney

What inspired the creation of NostalgiaNique, and how did your passion for antiques and vintage pieces evolve into the business it is today?

I started collecting for myself after holiday I took with my wife to Valencia Spain in 2019, that’s where I fell in Love not only with the amazing city but also its architecture, museums, cathedrals, small walkways, little Tapas bars along the narrow streets, the balance between modern and ancient buildings and how beautiful and seamlessly they existed and flowed together. My collecting was quickly cut short due to Covid Lockdowns but used my spare time to conduct research, study and learn about the great artists, design, architecture. The Old City of Valencia was simply stunning to take in and when we returned antique shopping became my “thing” as I wanted to collect old worldy pieces for our home. The natural organic growth from Private Collector to supplying high-end collectors to starting my online store and then our physical store was so natural that I know I found what I was really passionate about.

I am equally passionate on trying to do my part in protecting our environment from further damage and selling antiques with a clear focus on making our planet healthier by recycling, restoring and reusing older pieces is my perfect happy place. To ensure that I live to create #WhereNostalgiaLives! to build #AbetterTomorrow brings me the perfect balance between business and social responsibility. Our aim is always to bring the best quality forward to homes with minimal impact to the planet.

You describe NostalgiaNique as a blend of “old world quality with new world technology.” How do you ensure that each product maintains its vintage charm while providing a modern and seamless experience for your clients?

I worked as a business analyst/architect in my previous life where I was responsible to build out seamless, efficient customer journeys using various technologies as enablers to achieve customer success. With NostalgiaNique I built and continue to build/enhance my own online journeys, using technology to enable safe, quick and efficient technologies and protocols to sell Old world Antiques and collectables. I believe that we should be harnessing the power of technology at every opportunity to create a cleaner and more transparent shopping experience.

Our fully integrated platform (Selling, Buying, Marketing, Social Media, Inventory Management, Reporting and analytics) are all designed to support our clients desire for a multi-channeled seamless experience. A note – we do not outsource the build of our online website or online store, its all done in-house to ensure that we able to test and ensure our own ease of use before going live. In essence we’ve taken best practices from Customer engagement,  IT and Security best practices and incorporated them into an Old world store ensuring uqniue personalised experiences.

Can you share more about your curation process? How do you select and source the antiques and vintage items you offer to ensure they are of the best quality and condition?

Curation by its nature is the most important part of our business as it ensures authenticity. I am very selective about the type of products we need to stock but also ensuring customer satisfaction (post purchase) and making sure ofauthenticity and originality often takes days and in more complex cases Months to complete. With the rise of reproductions, counterfeit, fake and super clones of almost everything, it’s the one thing I do not compromise on and do take time to complete before we even display the item. All products are dated as accurately as possible to a period or an exact year.

We really do take great pride in ensuring authenticity first for our clients to ensure every purchase brings piece of mind and real value – part of our process is reaching out to museums, manufacturer websites, other trusted antique dealers or even our customers that are collectors of specific who are able to guide us honestly. Pieces are certainly selected for condition, quality and we use rarity as another measure to consider. With these four critical pieces correct curatorship, condition, quality and rarity we are proud to say we have never had a piece returned for credit due to bad quality or not being authentic. Our buying process is meticulously followed on every item in our stores.

How do you bring the nostalgia of past eras to life for your customers? What kind of stories or memories do you aim to evoke with your products?

Our pieces bring Nostalgia to life, it’s such a joy when we can bring back a piece of someone’s happy childhood memory and see their eyes light up, their smile and even a tear – I’m fortunate to be a witness to this almost daily. We once had a young lady (24 years Old) and now our amazing customer that came in and saw a tea set – she sat at a table and had a cry – this surprised me – her tears were those of joy she explained – she was forced to sell her Grans tea set to pay for her studies which was obviously painful at the time – her joy was that she could now afford (now that she’s graduated and working) to buy herself one form us and replace almost exactly the one she was forced to sell. She bought it and we remain great friends.

We do have an amazing Blog of how we united a family heirloom to its rightful family which I urge you to read. https://www.nostalgianick.com/post/a-true-story We always try and do our best to create new amazing nostalgic memories that keeps our customers (#FriendsofNostalgia) happy and coming back. 

Since you’ve taken antique shopping digital, what were some of the challenges and benefits of moving this industry online, and how have customers responded to the digital experience?

I believe the challenge for Small Business owners with a digital/online store remains – TRUST and SECURITY. This is why I curate tirelessly to ensure authenticity, build and maintain my own online website to ensure safety and security of online and physical locations. There is a boat load of digital/online options out there which include home sellers, deceased estates, online auctions so the market appetite is there and has been for a while. Our customers and the segments we play in are accepting ofour online store with 20% of revenue being generated through it – but also love the fact that they seamlessly move from online to in-store instantly.

We have differentiated our offering to attract buyers wanting authentic pieces at really fair prices. Both our physical store and online store provide all the same benefits through our “Royalty Rewards Program”  https://www.nostalgianick.com/royaltyprogram , Automated Discount vouchers for your next purchase, Tiered points system linked to additional discounts and free delivery and sourcing – Customer Satisfaction surveys are all built into your experience with us. Our digital, online and physical store are continuously enhanced at the same time to ensure we respond to the needs of our customers for variety, professionalism, safety and experience consistency.

What role does trust play in your relationships with clients? How do you ensure that your customers feel confident in their purchases, especially when buying unique or luxury items?

We strive to build an unbelievable relationships and trust is at the cornerstone of everything we do – whether you are buying from us or selling to us. I am always grateful to all our #friendsofnostalgia for their support as I believe with every transaction or interaction is opportunity to build the relationship in honesty, openness and transparency in order to build trust. On behalf of our customers – our suppliers understand our commitment to quality and customer care and we hold each of them to very high standards of excellence.

As testament to what we are achieving and something we are very proud of is more then 60% of our clients shop are repeat clients for Wedding Gifts. Birthday gifts, Home deco, furniture, artwork, etc. They have become great friends and also a source of great inspiration. We go to every length possible to ensure we follow up and get customers exactly what they pay for and any issues addressed and corrected with urgency which I personally oversee and manage.

Can you tell us about some of the standout or most memorable pieces that have been particularly special to your clients or the team at NostalgiaNique?

The one thing I have learnt is that every client has found something special and personal to them and needed to have in their homes. The art of antique dealing is finding those personal special pieces that combine spacial design, quality and the desire to build a unique home so I believe that every piece has that unique quality and builds good memories. Our collection crosses multiple artistic expressions (glass, paint, furniture, etc), different design periods and different parts of the world is brought in to meet the needs of our clients. Our standout piece at the moment is a 1 of 1 Japanese Shadona dated to between 1860 and 1870 and is simply stunning in detail, texture, rarity, quality. Made from an Elm wood tree, this piece would have taken the artist about 10 years to complete due the complexity of joinery, design and carving work required.

I love that every detail is perfect even the unseen parts are perfectly executed to respect the life of the tree. It’s not just a piece of outstanding furniture but preservation of the tree as a whole and the respect it was show is clear. Brought into South Africa in 1904/5 directly from Japan its authenticity is undeniably Meiji Period and has all the hallmarks of traditional craftsmanship.

In addition to your online platforms, what can customers expect when they visit your Boutique? How does the in-store experience differ from browsing online?

Certainly our online store is well stocked, professional, neat, easy to navigate and safe for online shoppers. Our walk-in customers will experience a clean, spacious and segmented store. We have found that by grouping items that are similar it’s easier for our shoppers to navigate as they walk through the physical store and go to exactly what they love/collect- just as we have segmented the online journey. Our customers love the opportunity to browse through our collection and appreciate that we don’t prescribe to a cluttered, dusty or dirty store. Every piece is gently and thoroughly cleaned and ready for their new home.

Our detailed pricing cards highlight key information like Description, manufacturer/artist name, year of manufacture, price but also and very importantly we have a unique and honest rating scale (out of 5) highlighting Condition, Collectibility and Rarity which are critical in ensuring that our customers are informed before the purchase. We continue working hard to bring both these worlds together with additional investment in technology as we build out new experiences which we will launch in January of 2025. We bring that personal touch and first hand information in store and through our product descriptors online we ensure information is consistent and accurate between the two worlds. 

What are some of the most popular categories of products you offer—classic watches, vintage furniture, glassware, or silverware? Are there any current trends or items that are particularly in demand?

Furniture always sells well for us and we’ve been privileged to have top SA manufacturer brands in stock such as 2 Hartmann and Keppler dining suites which were both fully restored using the finest leather on the chairs and lightly restored table tops. Vintage watches certainly are always popular with a number of collectors buying regularly from us – we ensure every piece is serviced, cleaned, repaired (if required) and importantly AUTHENTIC – each piece is sold with a 1 year guarantee. Occasional Chairs, lamps and home deco pieces are also always popular and we are constantly have work in progress pieces to meet the demand.  

Looking ahead, what are your plans for NostalgiaNique? Are there any exciting new product collections, collaborations, or expansion plans in the works?

Nicholas: We have just expanded to our New store in October 2024 at the same Lifestyle Garden Centre which boasts among other delights – two wooden floored patio areas, four entrance ways via wooden frame and beveled glass doors and much more space so in a modern centre we have that old world charm location. We are always investing in new online experiences and merging the two worlds into a seamless and unique Antique experience.

We are always collaborating through the Randburg Chamber of Commerce and other businesses in the area. We’ve recently launched the NostalgiaNique Freedom Space which allows us to elevate young artist and address unemployment through the creation of opportunity. The freedom Space also utilises the same integrated platform so now our VIP clients get to participate in specific events that bring the creation of memories and special events.