It is not unheard of for customers at Cimarron Rose to resort to fits of boot-stomping dancing when they enter the store, said Hope Sanford, co-owner of the downtown Buda antique shop.
Cimarron Rose sells an eclectic collection of furniture, dishes and decorations. However Sanford said the business’s crown jewels are at the back of the store, packed into milk crates.
“We call this the best little record shop in Central Texas,” Sanford said. “There is all kinds of music back there: everything from jazz to the 1960s to country music.”
The business regularly plays the musical stylings of whichever artist’s work Sanford pulls from its large collection of records at the back of the store.
More often than not she plays records by legendary western swing musician Bob Wills, which often generates a hearty reaction from customers, she said.
“We like to have fun,” she said.
Her husband, John, began collecting records years ago when the couple lived in Austin’s Hyde Park neighborhood. At one point, Sanford noticed the collection was growing, and she said she had to put her foot down.
“I told him, ‘You can’t do this anymore. We have too many at the house,’” she said. “He started bringing them down here, and it’s really grown.”
Among Cimarron Rose’s most lucrative vinyl sales was a rare pressing of a Beatles record from Australia, which Sanford said fetched $240. A rare pressing of Elvis’ “Moody Blue” sold for $250, she said.
Hope said she and her husband have been collecting antiques as long as she could remember. The couple occasionally organized booths at antique malls, but when the building at 218 N. Main St. became available, The Sanfords decided to turn their hobby into a business.
Most of the shop’s inventory is priced below $15, Sanford said.
“When we first opened, we had a small amount of stuff,” Sanford said. “We tried to upgrade to get better and better things.”
Among the shop’s regular inventory are teacups, books, vintage postcards and art.
Sanford said the shop’s best inventory often “walks in off the street.” One of her favorite pieces was a vintage treadle sewing machine that a seller brought into the store one day.
Sanford said she is always interested in seeing what people may be interested in selling.
Sanford said she advises new homebuyers—many of whom visit her husband and son’s realty company in a front corner of the shop—to consider adding a piece of vintage furniture to fill out their new residence.
“I always say if you have one piece of good-looking furniture, one piece of antique in a new tract home, it’s going to make the whole house look better,” Sanford said.
