A s a teacher, Michelle Myers knows there are a variety of ways to look at the world. Where some folks see a wooden door, weathered by rain and snow, she sees a decorative conversation piece for her dining room. Where some see rusted, old windmill blades, she envisions a focal point for her living room. The timeless adage of “Everything old is new again” is a world view that Myers has held her entire life, and it can be found on every shelf, every wall, every nook and cranny of her home in Lee’s Summit, MO, where Michelle and her husband, Chuck, have lived since 1995. “People should not throw anything away,” Michelle says, strolling through her living room and eyeing her favorite decorative pieces intently on an overcast morning in January. Her love of vintage knickknacks, trinkets and antiques has endured for just as long, too. What started out as just a hobby of collecting blossomed into a passion and a way of life in adulthood. “It really did start out as a hobby. Eventually, I had so much stuff, and I thought I would just start moving a bit of product every once in a while,” she recalls. For years, Michelle has balanced her full-time job as a special education teacher in the Lee’s Summit school district with overseeing space at antique stores (and stores themselves) throughout the Kansas The living room of Myers’ Lee’s Summit home features some of her favorite decorations. Natural light pouring through their high windows illuminate her treasures collected over her career as a dealer of vintage items.
According to Chuck Myers, “You could buy a whole mess of frames cheaply years ago, and now you have to buy them individually.”
City metro area. First was a small 5”x3” booth at the Greenwood Mer- cantile in Greenwood, MO. Afterward, Michelle moved into As Time Goes By, also located in Greenwood. Following her start in Greenwood, Michelle’s wares made their way to the West Bottoms area – first, with a location called Hickory Dickory and now with the store Good Ju Ju, a metro-area mainstay to fellow collectors. According to Good Ju Ju’s website, the shop offers finished antique and vintage furniture, architectural items, holiday decor, primitives, dining room tables, chairs, buffets, china cabinets, sporting goods, jewelry, mid-century modern stuff … retro, fun and funky items and about anything you can imagine.” Michelle’s brand recognition has taken years of shopping, collect- ing, hard work, and networking with like-minded merchants. Among her friends and peers, Michelle is known for her being selective about the items she sells and the ones that enter her home. “It seems like our circle of friends have the same business philosophy that we do,” she says. “For instance, I don’t spray paint furniture. I hand paint everything. And I will only sell solid wood products. I would rather repurpose the original item and have people love it all over again. “I’m picky, and I pay a lot of attention to detail,” she continues. “When Chuck and I set out (to open the store), we decided not to cut
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