LANSING, Mich. — Most of us have heard the saying, "out with the old, in with the new." But, a store in REO Town is showing the community that you can actually take those old things and give them a new life.
When you walk inside of Vintage Junkies, you'll feel right at home.
"It's a modern vintage store. Heavy emphasis on current trends," owner Amy McMeeken said. "I hear the most is people say 'I want to live in here. I want this to be my house, or I want to buy everything here.'"
McMeeken says her store offers vintage home decor.
"It's our main thing with furniture, little decorative pieces lamps and wall art. But then, we also have a large selection of vintage clothes and some accessories and then new items that have a vintage vibe," she said.
But how did Vintage Junkies come to be? Well 11 years ago, life became tough for McMeeken when her mother passed away.
"It was financially like a big hardship, she lived in another state. So I was there for a considerable amount of time with no pay, trying to help out with settling her affairs. And so it put me in a really bad place as a single mom," she said.
So she turned to something she's always loved, vintage and collected vintage.
"I started trying to sell on Craigslist," McMeeken said. "I found Etsy where I kind of had like a little storefront but online. And in two years, I had like over 600 items on there, and I was making more than my full time job."
And then, the dream of owning her own store came true.
"I always was looking for really bad off things, things that would normally go in the trash," she said.
Finding those treasured old items isn't always easy.
"I have to do a lot of traveling and digging, I have to go to a lot of places where I end up finding nothing," McMeeken said. "Sometimes people come to me and sell me things."
But she says it's worth it when she can give those items a face lift and make them beautiful again.
Like her love for vintage, McMeeken's store continues to grow. She hopes more people will stop in and give her items a new home.
"I heard a quote from another business owner he said he wants to see stores like this in your downtown. You want to see the cute little shops you have to be present there. You have to support them in any way you can. You vote for them with your dollars," McMeeken said.
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