Owner Lauryn Abt looks for items that are colorful, well-made and distinctive. (Haley Velasco/Community Impact)
Walking into The Junkyard Pearl, customers find colorful selections of jewelry, clothes and fashion accessories that come together to create one-of-a-kind finds.
“We're so eclectic,” owner Lauryn Abt said. “We have just such a wide variety of products … It's just a colorful atmosphere when people come in and they're like, ‘I love it here. This is my happy place.’”
How we got here
When Abt was growing up, her mother ran boutiques and her grandfather dealt in antiques, which drew her into vintage and antique selling.
Before opening The Junkyard Pearl, Abt sold at traveling shows in Round Top. After moving to the area, she saw an opportunity to bring shopping together with the restaurants and bars that were already drawing people in.
The Junkyard Pearl opened in November 2023.Courtesy The Junkyard Pearl
For Abt, The Junkyard Pearl is also a place where mothers and daughters can spend time together.
“The one time we get along is when we go out to lunch and go shopping together,” she said. “So we get to be kind of right in the middle of that as well, where it’s a lot of bonding.”
Respecting the craft
The shop offers an eclectic mix of clothing, jewelry, accessories, home decor, gifts and vintage, handmade pieces.
The shop offers an eclectic mix of clothing, jewelry, accessories, home decor, gifts and vintage, handmade pieces.Haley Velasco/Community Impact
Abt looks for items that are colorful, well-made and distinctive.
“I’m always looking for color, quality and weird and fun things that stop people and get compliments and they’ll ask questions on … and that kind of makes you feel confident with what you’re wearing too,” Abt said.
Looking ahead
Abt is planning on opening a second location in the near future, as well as a warehouse, which will allow her to clean up and stage the existing space.
Long term, she hopes to have two stores and a functioning warehouse, supported by a larger team so she can continue to focus more on creative work.
While she’s taking things one day at a time, Abt said she’s proud to have built a destination that draws visitors to the shop.
“We’ve turned this into a destination store where people travel to come and see us,” she said. “My biggest accomplishment is creating something people want to take a detour to.”
Abt's team has grown to five full-time employees, but she said she hopes to add more members so she can focus on her creative work.Haley Velasco/Community Impact
