12-Year-Old Entrepreneur Opening Pop-Up Clothing Shop On The UWS

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A 12-year-old entrepreneur and a candidate for the Upper West Side City Council seat are teaming up to bring a pop-up clothing store to a vacant neighborhood storefront.

Obocho Peters, who still isn't even a teenager, is bringing his children's thrift shop to a vacant storefront at 249 West 60th Street, as part of City Council candidate Zack Weiner's "Startup Retail Initiative."

The initiative aims to fill vacant storefronts with entrepreneurs looking for space and Peters will be the first person to take part. The pop-up shop will be open for three days from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday to Sunday.

Peters founded the thrift store Obocho's Closet when he was nine years old after he asked his mom, Sasha Peters, to buy him action figures from "Avengers: Infinity War."

"I really wanted all the toys," Peters told Patch in 2019. "My mom just couldn't afford it."

So Peters got to work. He started taking online business classes, and with the help of his mom, launched an online thrift store of clothes that no longer fit him. The child entrepreneur was able to raise more than $10,000 in a matter of months.

The thrift store also offers free financial literacy seminars for children and adults and donates a portion of profits to Brooklyn-based food pantries.

In June 2019, Peters was honored as a hero by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

• 10-Year-Old Dubbed Brooklyn Hero By Borough President

Peters is looking forward to his pop-up shop on the Upper West Side.

"I'm excited about the event, meeting different people, checking out the area and making another BIG step toward my goal of helping families become Financially Free," Peters told Patch in an email Tuesday.

Weiner, who is running to replace Council Member Helen Rosenthal's seat, describes his Start Up Retail Initiative as a "route for landlords to demonstrate good faith efforts to fill stores. Landlords will offer pop-up entrepreneurs/artists/nonprofits/and the like a revenue sharing and utility paid arrangement as opposed to rent."

You can find out more about the Upper West Side pop-up store from the 12-year-old entrepreneur here.