If this were Jeopardy, the question would be “what do stylized vintage and high-spirited have in common?” The answer, Dixie DeRocher, is the force behind Rebel Junk Vintage Market. When you walk into a Rebel Junk market, which takes place in various destinations around the U.S., you are transformed by the ambiance, a combination of upbeat music, trending vintage style, a glass of wine, and the “Rebel” in Rebel Junk. You never know what you will come across, but one thing is for certain, you will find what you are looking for, even if you didn’t know you were looking for it.
Some of the more interesting items I have found include an antique airplane propeller, an old fashioned drive-in movie intercom and shelving made from recycled antique and vintage suitcases. The markets’ accolades include being voted “Top Traveling Vintage Market” in the USA by Flea Market Style magazine, being named one of the “top 25” Flea Markets in America by Romantic Homes Magazine and being listed as a “must attend flea market” in America by Flea Market Decor magazine.
I Learned Everything I Know From Mom
Dixie’s humble beginnings involved a resourceful mother, raising five children who knew how to utilize the resale markets (i.e. flea markets, garage sales and thrift stores) vs. retail stores to provide for her family. According to Dixie, “we would all pile in our OLD FORD Truck.. and jump out as soon as she stopped to see what we could find.” If Dixie’s mom was anything like mine, she probably knew how to spot treasure on the curb on trash day, something that I despised as a child, but emulate with pride as an adult.
She learned all the best junking techniques during her childhood. Dixie’s first entrepreneurial venture into the junk market was to open a vintage store, however the long hours took her away from her family and she decided something had to give and it wasn’t going to be her family. Thus, she partnered with her sister (who came from the same school of junk as Dixie) and they became The Funky Junk Sisters. The Funky Junk Sisters held a vintage market called Junk Salvation which was named one of the top 25 vintage markets in the U.S.A. Rebel Junk Crafted Vintage Market is one of the current iterations of the traveling vintage junk market business owned by Dixie. The current market takes place several times a year in different states including Oregon, Washington, Colorado, California and Idaho. Dixie also owns a brick and mortar store in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho called “Junk,” a place where you can shop for a combination of upcycled and repurposed merchandise for the home.
Rebel Junk Vintage Market – A Little Bit of Country and a Whole Lot of Funky
Dixie’s self described “twist of a little country with a whole lot of funky is where we like to play” style has not gone unnoticed, Junk along with Funky Junk Sisters have taken on a life of their own from designing furniture for exclusive resort properties, building special displays for other stores located in town and designing and even designing spaces for several music festivals.
A Good Time was Had By all
What can you expect to find at a Rebel Junk Vintage Market? An upbeat atmosphere, glass of wine (nice touch Dixie), inspiration to seed your design projects and shopping, lots of shopping. The market hosts a wide range of vendors from straight up antique dealers to (my favorite) artisans that create works of art, and furniture (pretty much anything you can think of) out of salvaged/recycled materials. Think rusty, chippy, vintage, style and on trend. You will also find unique fashion vendors that offer clothing and/or accessories as well as interesting food vendors like The Cupcake Gypsies, vintage camper traveling vendors of gourmet cupcakes. More recently Rebel Junk has added “Crafted” to the mix. See below for schedule and a sampling of vendors.
Schedule of upcoming shows.
Frequent Rebel Junk Vendors: