New Bedford’s Y2K Dream: Marlboro Merch Lives on at Vintage Store

Y2k kids were raised on catalog fashion like Alloy and dELiA*s, but only one brand’s gear was so out of reach for a tween that it became that much more desirable: the Marlboro Miles merch.

For no discernable reason, the Marlboro merch currency was “miles” and one could only accrue these miles by buying Marlboro cigarettes and using the packages as proof of purchase.

In the 1990s, smoking was much more common, and finding discarded boxes was pretty easy. No one in my family smoked so garbage picking was the only viable way to earn my merch miles if I was going to get serious about the Marlboro Adventure Team Backpack; but the lifestyle gear was just so cool looking that I was going to do what I had to do (sadly, unsuccessfully).

Fast forward 25 years and all that cool adventure merch could be mine for real, actual dollars thanks to this vintage store in New Bedford.

Deep Finds (located on the first floor of the Kilburn Mill) specializes in Y2K clothing with some fun older finds mixed in, all carefully curated by store owner Pat Dwelly. He hits up yard sales, estate sales, goes to house cleanouts, and curates only the best of Y2K clothing.

The bright colors and patterns of the '90s will draw you into the store, but it’s the way everything is organized by color that will keep you looking through rack after rack of vintage tees and jackets.

Cue the very, very New England-appropriate Red Marlboro Duck-Down Parka. Compared to its fellow jackets – mostly swishy material Starter pullovers – this jacket is huge. Not huge as in a size XXL way, but huge in a Randy Parker I-Can’t-Put-My-Arms-Down way.

The quality of this jacket was so much more than what you’d expect from a cigarette rewards catalog that it made me wonder if the other Marlboro lifestyle gear was just as good.

Dwelly got to work and pulled out the goods: the pullover half-zip fleece, the baseball cap, the utility fanny pack with sports bottle, six different styles of bags (ranging from coolers and hiking to duffles and luggage), a pop-up camping tent and even a brand new pair of Dan Post Marlboro Edition brown leather cowboy boots.

Let me tell you, finally seeing this stuff in real life was a feeling worth a million Marlboro miles.