If you were on the internet at all during 2017-2019, you’ve likely heard of HQ Trivia. The live gameshow became a viral sensation and was quickly drawing in millions of live players competing daily for real cash prizes. And a lot of the games success can be directed at the host of the show, Scott Rogowsky. The game was simple. Answer trivia questions correctly for a chance to win real cash prizes, and these weren’t just $5 and $10 dollar prizes. Prizes would usually be anywhere from $1,000 to $15,000. Of course people wanted to win money, but many came back due to how charismatic and loveable Scott was. This earned him the nickname “The Quiz Daddy”. Upon learning recently that Scott opened up a vintage store in Santa Monica, QDC VTG, we reached out to hear about his passion for vintage and what led him to opening up his own store!

Who are you?

“My name is Scott Rogowsky, I’m 37 years old, born in NYC, moved to LA one year ago. My store is located on Main Street in Santa Monica and we opened March 1st”.

What are you most known for?

“I’m most known for hosting HQ trivia from 2017-2019, which was a mobile gameshow played by millions of people around the world. I originally started doing standup comedy out of college, and then after HQ I went on to host a baseball show on the MLB network and am now working with an app called NTWRK doing some livestream sports cards shows, on top of owning my own Vintage Store – Quiz Daddy’s Closet aka QDC VTG.””.

How did you get involved in HQ Trivia?

“I had been pursuing a career in entertainment for 12 years before HQ came along. My first break was as co-host of an ABC show called Would You Fall For That? which was a spin-off of their popular What Would You Do? But the biggest break came when the creative director for HQ – who I had worked with at The Onion back in 2008 – called me up in April 2017 and asked me if I wanted to audition for a new game show on a phone. I got the gig, and you know the rest!”

How did you start your Vintage Store?

“I started my IG Page, Quiz Daddy’s Closet, in 2019 to sell some of my personal collection with the goal of donating the proceeds to charitable causes. I raised around 25,000 to donate, which was amazing.  

I moved to LA last year, and the story behind the shop is that when I moved to LA I was trying to buy a condo and it fell through, so all my escrow money got sent back to me, so I said fuck it and I’m going to put my money into a vintage store. it was almost like a new year’s resolution type of thing, and I just went and opened the store. The biggest thing was shipping all my inventory from NYC that was still in my parent’s basement. Even now I’m still unpacking boxes coming in for the store. I have around 4,000 vintage pieces in my “closet”, everything from hats to shirts to sweatshirts to jerseys”.

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How did you get into vintage?

“I started thrifting in Highschool. In 2002, I remember going to salvation army during free periods in school and we would just thrift stuff that we thought was cool. I look back at my high school photos and in 9th grade I was wearing Abercrombie, but I didn’t feel comfortable in it. I hated going to the mall. I didn’t care about fitting in. I wanted to wear what I wanted to wear. I loved wearing the 50/50 blends. I started wearing Polos, graphic tees, jerseys, anything that I thought was cool.

I started a website back in 2003 called retrorags.com. It was an incredibly early t-shirt business, inspired by Vintage Vantage that sold vintage tees online. This was around the time College Humor was doing BustedTees, and Urban Outfitters was doing vintage inspired tees. I got in just before vintage became “the thing”. I would take road trips specifically just to thrift. I drove from Montreal to Calgary in 2005 just to thrift. I still have memories of finding the craziest shit for $5″.

Do you miss those days? Seem like thrifting is dead, and its all about finding a rag house.

“I’ve never been to a rag house but the whole idea confuses me. Where’s the fun in it? Going to rag house is like robbing a jewelry store. Going thrifting is like mining for gold. Its all about the hunt for me”.

What do you like to collect/sell?

“My personal favorites are Phish tees, Grateful Dead tees, Allman Brothers Band and all related projects. Baseball items, specifically the Mets. I specialize in defunct vintage Minor League Baseball tees. I also love comedy Show Biz tees like Late Nite comedy shows.  

My store is mostly a mixture of everything, but I’m considering transitioning the store to all vintage sportswear”.

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What do you think about the explosion in vintage popularity/prices?

“It’s definitely kind of killed the thrifting fun, not that it’s totally dead. I’ll still get lucky here and there but I don’t even bother going to Goodwill anymore. It almost seems inevitable that people are going to have to go to the rag houses for stuff. As for the prices, at the end of the day, it’s just market dynamics. I remember going to vintage boutiques in New York 20 years ago and prices seemed outrageous to me at the time. “$40 for a shirt??” But today that’s like the baseline price in my shop for a cool graphic tee. I think the general public is becoming more aware of just how unique and rare some of these shirts are, and they’re growing into their value.If a Harley tee is worth $1000 to someone, then that’s what it’s worth. When you compare to what Burberry or Balenciaga charge for a new t-shirt off the rack, vintage prices start to make sense.”

Future goals for vintage?

“I’ve been open just one month and things have been going really well. I think there’s a real opportunity here, especially on the westside of LA. Two weeks after I opened, my buddy Benji at Unholy Saints opened his own shop right down the street! And I think it’s great for both of us. My goals are to just grow this thing out, maybe move the shop and potentially shift to sportswear. I had my first celebrity athlete client the other day – shoutout my new favorite player, Aaron Wiggins on the Thunder!  I would love to be the plug for athletes when they come to LA”.