Peggy Davis' new Jefferson City store is all about the experience.
Shop Girl opened at 106 Boonville Road, Suite C, in June, and its contents offer something for everyone.
"We have such a varied collection of things. It's an experience," Davis said. "It's not a fine store; it's a 'find' store. We don't have straight aisles - you're going to find a path, you're going to find cubbyholes, and you're going to find great stuff."
Walking through the store, in the lower level of the mid-neighborhood building just off West Main Street, is like touring the home of a collector. Antique furniture and eclectic decorative items are staged as they might have been by their original owner or as they might be next in a finder's home. Right now, a display of antique typewriters welcomes visitors into Shop Girl's time-warped world, but Davis said the selection of items is always changing.
"We have items going all the way back mid-century but also going back further than a century ago," she said. "You're going to find things here you won't find other places.
Shop Girl isn't all about antiques, though. Several brand new items are available as well, like solid wood dining tables, handmade birdhouses and a line of soaps made in Kirkwood. The one-of-a-kind wooden utensils displayed near the front of the store are the work of a local craftsman who also lives in the West Main area.
"One thing we're really working to do is keep products as local as possible," Davis said.
The store also sells the MudPaint line of furniture paint, encouraging customers to look at some of the vintage pieces for sale through a do-it-yourself lens.
With the help of local artists, Shop Girl is looking to spread the DIY bug further by offering frequent workshops at the store. Already, Liv Livek has led a workshop on different painting techniques to turn flower boxes into artwork themselves, and Davis plans to use her love of landscaping and experience as a Master Gardener to help workshop attendees beautify their outdoor spaces as well. For the more introspectively creative, Livek has art-journaling and photo album workshops on the books, too.
"This is the perfect time for this store to come into creation," Davis said, noting the rising popularity of recycling and reusing old and antique items to give them new life. "This place is really going to be a project place."
Davis said part of her inspiration for the store came from the way of life her mother, Hazel, modeled to her - she lived through the Great Depression, and she refused to waste anything that could be made useful again.
Shop Girl will host an official grand opening and sale deemed "Hazel Day" on July 23, Hazel's birthday.
To keep up on what workshops are in store at Shop Girl, follow the store's Facebook page. Shop Girl is open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.