On my quest to fix a broken fan this past weekend, I stumbled upon a rather unusual store front. I was looking for a replacing fan part, but this shop provided an altogether different experience..
I had heard about a second hand shop on the outskirts of town, but until this weekend never had a need to visit.. there were a few other secondhand shops in and about town which sported the usual fare of clothes and toys or doubled as a junk yard. None of them had the part I needed, and desperation was driving me further and further out of town.
So I decided to track down the fabled store and try my luck there. And what a find it was.
The storefront was cluttered and crouched away at a busy intersection, so it'd be easy to miss, however, I was lucky enough to chance upon it without much of a search at all. The entrance seems cramped and small, however, once you go inside, it widens out and sprawls back for ages.
The whole things becomes and intricate labyrinth with no seeming rhyme or reason. Large sections of the store are piles of electronic rubble, discarded household appliances, and other bits and bobs. But interwoven among the junk heaps are pockets of clearly thought-out displays of unique wares like Chinese tea sets, parlor hats, and train station lounge chairs..
It makes for a thoroughly mystifying experience.
What immediately caught my attention was a rack of VHS movies off to the right of the entrance. Crammed top to bottom a wide arrange of 80s-90s titles were on display, including Shaft, Hackers, & Big Daddy. Further in there was another rack full of VDO cds that had Memoirs of A Geisha & Nine Months.. and yet again, near the back of the shop unearthed a stand of relatively newer DVD movies with the likes of Tom Cruise's Mummy & the live action Peter Pan
Like most people, I have absolutely no use for VHS cassettes, VDO cds or DVDs, but it was still astonishing to see racks and racks of these outdated pieces of video entertainment.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to linger and dig through this treasure trove of knick knacks and curiosities. The shop seemed to have everything except the part I was looking for. What they did give me though was directions to a place that DID have what I needed, so it was well worth the journey out.
I will likely find some down time to return and see what nostalgia-inciting baubles or trinkets I might find... I do want that bike..
