Rockin’ Rad Relics is the cool spot in Indy

Rockin Rad Relics is upping the cool in downtown Independence. Located at 120 D Street, the store is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday through Sunday. Photo by Lance Masterson.

Rockin Rad Relics is a vintage store with an attitude.

Located near the City of Independence library, store owner Darlene Brush is careful as to which items make her suitable-for-selling list. After all, with a name like Rockin Rad Relics, image is everything.

“We like to call it the cool store because of all the cool things we have in here,” Brush said. “We’re not your grandma’s antique store … We like fun, bright, colorful … We like things that bring us joy.”

For Brush, a sampling of what brings her joy includes:

“The stuff you see around here,” she said, as she looked around. “Different kinds of clothes. The alien. Carhartt. The BMX bikes. Different art. Marilyn Monroe. Road signs. Jewelry. Hats. The fun t-shirts. Egg paperweights. Different types of furniture. Foosball table. Comics. Toys.”

Photo by Lance Masterson

The two Monroe pieces are originals, and indicative of Brush’s taste. One piece came from an art show, the other from a garage sale. Both are “cool” in their own way, she said.

Not all pieces at Rockin Rad Relics are for sale. Some are there to add atmosphere.

“We don’t just randomly go selling stuff. Certain things are here for people to look at,” she said. “I don’t want to get rid of (everything). The Beavers sign? That’s not going anywhere. Some of the bikes are not not going anywhere. My alien isn’t going anywhere. Everything isn’t necessarily for sale. But most of it is. The majority of it is.”

Most of the inventory comes from Brush’s personal collection. But eight other vendors also have items for sale. Room for more exists if prospective vendors meet her criteria.

“I can make room for more vendors, but I’m very picky about what I want,” Brush said.

Sound is in. Specifically, such items as vinyl records, retro audio equipment, and radios from the 60s and 70s, including boomboxes.

“I’d also like more toys here. The vintage kind of toys,” she said. “That would be great.”

Not in demand are “routine old-school stuff, like photos and postcards. Dime a dozen stuff,” she said. “People aren’t looking for it.”

Brush advises those interested in renting space to check Rockin Rad Relics on Facebook or Instagram to see if a match exists.

“I need to see pictures of what they got, or they can come in and talk with me, and we’ll talk about a space,” she said.

Darlene Brush is a lifelong picker. She’s also owner of Rockin’ Rad Relics in downtown Independence. Photo by Lance Masterson.

Brush and partner Jason Cotner were vendors when the store was Val’s Vintage. They took over the business, and the perks of ownership are agreeing with her.

“You get to be your own boss. You get to make up all the rules. You get to bring in your own things and set it up the way you want,” she said. “You get to run the show the way you want.”

For many, selling vintage items is a lifestyle choice. That’s certainly true for Brush and Cotner.

“We’re pickers. So everyday we’re picking, looking, watching, seeing what we can find,” she said. “We’ve got a couple of houses full, and garages full and storage sheds full. We’ve got a lot.”

Brush’s go-to places to add inventory include the three sales of picking: estate, garage and yard.

“We like so many different things that it’s pretty easy for us to go someplace and find something we want,” she said.

Brush and Cotner shy away from storage unit auctions because they find those auctions’ winner-take-all sales’ requirement too restrictive.

“We don’t want to get a storage unit full of generic brown, gray, old-fashioned kinds of things that aren’t to our taste,” she said.

Brush has noticed her taste is appreciated by younger generations of shoppers.

“I have a lot of young people that shop here, and they’re shopping for clothes, shopping for toys. They’re buying records,” she said. 

Rockin Rad Relics, at 120 D Street, Independence, is open everyday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

It offers air conditioning and heating as the weather dictates, she added.