EVERETT — Everett’s newest source of nostalgic goods offers a quarter pencil machine from California, a giraffe in a wrestler’s mask and many other things that make you go, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you have that.”
At least that’s what Jono Rodgers said, who co-owns Lunapop Vintage with his wife, Catie Rodgers. The couple are longtime collectors of vintage treasures and oddities. Now the fruit of that labor, and a large collection of sealed trading card packs, can be found at 4027 Rucker Ave.
“It’s very different than walking into an antique store,” Catie Rodgers said. “We want it to be bright and crazy and overwhelming and stimulating.”
Color is the name of the game, from the yellow-orange of the trinket-laying chicken machine at the front to the retro hats hanging from the ceiling. Most of what fills the storefront is pulled from 80s and 90s pop culture.
“All this stuff from our childhood that nobody remembers until you walk in the door,” Jono Rodgers added.
Before opening Lunapop in September, the Rodgers got their start with a booth at Hewitt Estates & Antiques.
“It’s totally our hobby, and so every chance we get, we’re on auctions or estate sales or finding a crazy back alley garage that somebody’s selling a bunch of weird stuff,” Jono Rodgers said.
Now, their hobby has a 2,000-square-foot home in Everett.
“Everett’s been amazing, ” Jono Rodgers said. “We got a lot of hits on TikTok and Instagram from just customers coming in and loving it”
Despite their internet popularity, Jono Rodgers joked they still haven’t gotten their other employee, and one of their three kids, Eli, to do the promised grand opening video yet. Lunapop documents the running bit, along with updates on new stock and deals, on its social media.
Still, in just over a month, Lunapop’s eclectic collection has attracted a regular crowd.
“I watch people come in and just watch their faces light up,” Jono Rodgers said. “Because they have that experience…seeing something that they had from their childhood.”
It’s an experience the Rodgers know well, as some of their favorite finds were pulled from their childhood memories, like the pencil vending machine.
“You pay 25 cents, and you get a random pencil,” Jono Rodgers said. “We always had these NFL pencils, and it’s been ingrained in my head since I was a kid, and so I’ve always wanted one.”
Along with capturing customers’ childhood nostalgia, it’s important to the couple to give a new life to the toys, clothes and decor that already exist.
“We live in a super disposable society, and so we source stuff that already exists,” Catie Rodgers said. “We want as small of a footprint as we can make.”
For those who want to go on their own treasure hunt through Lunapop, the store is open six days a week from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, excluding Monday, and until 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com; X: @JennaMillikan
