A collector for most of her life, Lou Lauhon said she has always had a passion for jewelry and trinkets. Throughout the day, Lauhon greets each customer with her country twang and a smile as they enter the doors of her business, Texas Jackrabbit Emporium.
“I’ve just collected junk my whole life,” Lauhon said. “I decided I’m 67, and I wanted to do something I like doing. So that’s why I got into this. My goal is to work until I’m 90. So many people don’t do what they really want to do. I spent my whole life being in sales, but that’s not my favorite thing.”
Filled with various antiques, trinkets and artwork, the shop has built a steady base of new and regular customers since opening last fall, Lauhon said. In the months following its opening, Texas Jackrabbit Emporium has accumulated 29 vendors that sell their products throughout the 3,586-square-foot showroom, she said.
The shop is accepting new vendors for booths ranging from $125 to $300 per month and maintains a waiting list for space because of significant community interest, Lauhon said. Staying true to the shop’s motto of ‘We buy junk and sell antiques,’ Lauhon said she works with an interior decorator to regularly rotate products in the showroom throughout the week.
“We want it to look like booth after booth [in the shop],” Lauhon said. “We put the doors in to make it look like a regular store. In a place like this, you don’t make your money on your big $500 and $800 pieces of furniture. It’s kind of like a 7-Eleven service station—you make your money on your nickel-and-dime stuff.”
The shop’s newest vendors as of early July include soapery and apothecary Peace, Love, Herbs owners Jase and Anaya Bakker as well as artist and designer Becky Schultea, owner of Sunnyside Studio & Boutique.
Schultea has 35 years of experience as a professional artist and spent the past three years working as an art instructor at Pinot’s Palette in The Woodlands.
Schultea teaches on-site painting classes for children on Tuesdays and adults on Wednesdays. Her painting style incorporates a mix of vintage and modern pieces, such as buttons, doilies, index cards and lace, she said.
“I just really think it’s neat that people can come in here to paint without any experience,” Schultea said. “I really like the small-town feel we have here and tapping into that. Getting to meet the people around here has been great.”
Though Texas Jackrabbit Emporium features a variety of wares to appeal to women, the shop also offers a self-proclaimed “man cave” with military and hunting memorabilia, ranch accents and antique signs, Lauhon said.
“The reason I use ‘Jackrabbit’ [in the business name] is to lure the men into the man cave, and it’s working,” Lauhon said. “I knew the women would come for the ‘Emporium.’ Though I do get calls twice a week from people asking what kind of rabbits we sell.”
Modern and vintage finds
• Antiques, such as home and wall decor, military memorabilia and signs
• Gifts, such as jewelry and clothing
• Organic soapery and apothecary products
• Furniture, such as chairs and dressers
• Artwork and paintings
• Chalk-painting classes for furniture
• Canvas-painting classes for children and adults
Sidewalk sales
Texas Jackrabbit Emporium hosts sidewalk sales in front of the business once every six weeks to promote local artisans and offer a space for them to sell wares. Community vendors are able to rent a space for $25.
