Brown's Vintage and Variety

Just a reminder about our coffee tin sale today. I've been unloading and pricing coffee tins 14 hours a day for 3 days and we managed to get 733 put out for today. There's a lot more still to come, so I'm thinking we may have bought more than a thousand. This really has been a treat. It's worth coming down to see even if this isn't your thing. It's absolutely amazing how many different makers of coffee there have been in this country! We've sold a lot of really cool things over the years, some of which we've had 6 or 7 times now. I'm pretty sure there's quite a few cans here that once they walk out the door today, I will not see again in this life. #vintagecoffee #vintageadvertising #vintagetins #advertisingtins #graphicdesign #antiques #coffee #generalstore #vintageshopping #kansascity

Who likes coffee? If you or anyone you know likes vintage coffee tins, we got a few new ones in. By "a few", I mean around a thousand. This picture is about a quarter of them. I'll have a few out in the next couple days, but my goal is to put out at least 500 new ones for Saturday morning. We might just have one with your name on it, literally! #vintagetins #coffee #advertisingtins #vintagecoffee #coffeecans #keywind #vintageadvertising #kansascity #vintageshopping

If you want to know what running a small business is like, Imagine you're drowning and then someone walks up and tells you you're doing it wrong. I'm joking, but a lot of days while some customers tell me how lucky I am to do what I do, I'm secretly drowning. I worry I don't have enough new stuff, I worry my prices are too high, I haven't cleaned enough, I'm wearing the same shirt as the day before. Many nights, I've had to choose between being able to pay for my fa...mily's dinner and being able to be at my family's dinner. And yet, after about the worst year imaginable, we're still here. Despite everything, the store is actually having a pretty great year. So, I just want to say thank you to everyone who's saved us from drowning this year and years in the past. Every single time I wanted to give up, got in over my head, or didn't have enough make the next buy, one of you were there to validate our efforts, offer to help carry stuff in, or buy a gas pump. I do consider myself very blessed to be able to do this for a living and it's not lost on me how far I would've gotten without all the support. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! So, we'll be here tomorrow. We'll be having some rare sales, but if there's other small businesses you love, I implore you to support them this Small Business Saturday instead. Speaking only from my personal experience, you may never know how close they are to drowning until you see the post that says they're closing. Thank you all again for everything you've done to keep us afloat. #smallbusinesssaturday #lingthedream #smallbusiness #acoldandbrokenhallelujah #gratitude

Old blue went to Truck Heaven today. She looks a little too good to go to salvage, but the insurance company said that due to Covid salvage values were extraordinarily high and it made a lot more sense to total it than to fix it. I had to leave her at the end of my driveway for contactless pickup by the tow company, but she tried to follow me home. I had to yell at her, "go away, I don't want you no more" as I fought back the tears and she eventually stayed. Accordi...ng to our computer, we've sold 24,862 items since we opened our store 3 years ago and most of them came there in that truck. I pulled that truck into a garage sale 8 years and bought a 25 cent batmobile that I later sold on eBay for $60, which planted the seed that maybe with enough work and determination, someone could feed a family doing this. I drove my wife to the hospital in that truck, to deliver our 4th son, just so we could use him in our logo. I kid a little, but it was a sad day today. Among many things this year, I'm thankful for having had that truck. I'm also thankful for insurance and thankful for customers that still support our small junk shop during this difficult year. We mostly sell items that connect people to a joyful memory or time in their life, so I guess it makes sense that connection would be in demand this year as great as any other.For me I hope the next shop I walk into has a small blue F150. For those of you that have learned that you're welcome to swing in anytime you see the blue truck before or after hours or on Sunday or Monday or Tuesday, I hope to find a new vehicle soon that you'll come to know. Until then I'll be driving my wife's grey explorer or riding my Big Wheel. I hope you all have a Wonderful Thanksgiving! #sadbutthankful #happythanksgivng #amanandhistruck

Jiminy Cricket we've got a lot of cool new stuff this week! #pinocchio #coinoperated #coinop #vintagetoys #heman #gobots #pixie #vintagepixie #vintageshopping #kansascity