It's Wally's World opens Copiague vintage store
Wally Stack at It's Wally's World in Copiague, opening in July 2026. Credit: It's Wally's World Copiague
A thrift store owner’s retail “world” has doubled in scope.
Shoppers have a new place to seek secondhand bargains as It’s Wally’s World opened in July in Copiague.
“Wally is short for Walter,” says Wally Stack, 36. “My whole life, people have said to me, ‘We’re living in Wally’s world.”
And now they’re shopping in it.
The store joins Stack’s flagship store in Lindenhurst, where vintage clothes, Pokémon collectibles and toys are top sellers.
The Copiague branch features used furniture, clothing and household items, plus electronics – items such as decorative concrete lions, CDs and vinyl LPs, and a glass-topped wrought iron table. Prices run from $1 to $300 and up.
The Copiague expansion marks the latest entrepreneurial move for Stack, who's been going to garage sales, antique stores and thrift shops since he was a kid.
“It was kind of like my family hobby,” he says. “I was always buying and selling. I got to work right out of Lindenhurst High School. ”
Stack’s job at 1-800-GOT-JUNK in 2011 turned out to be illuminating. “It opened me up to what people were throwing out,” he says. “So much good stuff.”
Inspired by his father, Walter, who had a waterproofing business, Stack pursued being his own boss. “Three days after my dad passed away in 2011, I got involved with buying storage units,” he says.
Stack sold the contents of those containers at flea markets in Bellmore and Queens, all the while building a network of business connections that are resources for merchandise in his stores.
“I deal with homeowners, real estate agents and clean-out companies,” he says.
After co-running This 4 You, a thrift and collectibles shop in Freeport, Stack opened It’s Wally’s World in Lindenhurst in 2023. He’s operating the Copiague location with a partner.
Beyond the sustainability aspect, there’s another big appeal about the secondhand world. “The history behind things interests me,” Stack says. “All these items come to me with a life of their own.”
It’s Wally’s World, 720 Montauk Hwy., Copiague and 234 E. Montauk Hwy., Lindenhurst, @itswallysworldny
