Sarah Thompson of Radcliffe based Rural Revitalization LLC, and Derek Lumsden of Osceola based Polished Productions Consulting are on a mission to find the most interesting small businesses in Iowa, and tell the world what's incredible about them. Both are specialists in rural economic development and have a passion for keeping small towns alive and vibrant. Together they're hosting a new Youtube series called Destination Diaries.
Recently, they were in Eagle Grove to highlight not one, but two exceptional local businesses they felt were worth calling a "destination: Gramma's Attic, and Arden Scott Collectibles. Of course the two businesses have more in common than just being across the street from one another. Both are worth making a trip for, if you're into collectibles. And while Gramma's Attic will be the feature of the next episode the video diary-ing duo, Arden Scott Collectibles is featured in their most recent episode.
Watching the episode, one is struck by just what an amazing place Arden Scott's is. With a world class collection of vinyl records, beer steins, lunchboxes, instruments and many more sought after collectibles. And right here in Eagle Grove.
"When I heard about it I thought it was mainly like a record store," Lumsden told owner Scott Arden Thompson, "So when I came in and saw the memorabilia and the guitars and the old lunch boxes I was just blown away."
"Yeah, well, it's kinda what I've been interested in. They always say, 'collect what you have an interest in.'," Thompson related. "We've started out of my office on the farm, and then I bought a small building in town, and now I've got a store on Main Street."
Upon being told that the store had a collection of more than 15,000 albums listed on Discogs, the definitive online marketplace for vinyl records, Lumsden wanted to know how old they were. "And are a lot of them like some of the originals, like that people found and brought in, or are they like the reproductions and things that Walmart and stuff are doing now?"
"No they're the originals," Thompson told him, "60 to 80 years old."
"This is crazy," Lumsden replied, though he needn't have said a word from the look on his face.
Store Manager Troy Middleton showed off the store's collection of instruments, including his current favorite bass guitar in stock. "It's a Samick, Greg Bennet design," Middleton related – which might have you bass players among the readers salivating – "and it plays amazing! We've got amplifiers to go with it. So if you want to buy a complete kit, we can pretty much do that."
Lumsden wanted to know about the variety of music. "So I saw jazz, I saw rock & roll. Is there any type of music that you don't have that you wish you did?"
"Um no, as a matter of fact I was gonna just concentrate on this type of music," Thompson told him, referencing the Woodstock T-shirt he wore. "But I found out that there's a market for about everything. Country & western, rock & roll, psychedelic, individual lounge singers. It surprised me. And the age that is collecting records now surprised me too."
Lumsden agreed, relating that one of his nephews is now collecting records, and the market seems to be hot again, "…when I was a kid they were sort of on their way out, but now they're booming again."
Thompson explained that the business might seem like a small town thing, but it's actually global. "85% of our business is online, though, in records. And about, the last time we checked, 28% go outside the United States, so it's a worldwide thing."
Meanwhile, across the store Sarah Thompson was interviewing Amy Lund, and Ben Thompson in turn about some of the store's other collectibles, such as lunch boxes, beer steins, and John Deere collectibles. But I won't give you the blow by blow of the video, so you can enjoy watching it for yourself. Just search Youtube for Destination Diaries, type the web address youtu.be/YYX-UhysAwQ in your browser, or scan this QR code with your phone:
But to sum it up I'll quote Lumsden, "They've got a ton of stuff here. You're missing out if you haven't been to Arden Scott collectibles. And they're online as well. So this is easily something you can do from the comfort of your own home. Reach out to them. Call. Email. This is something that is an easy way to support local business because there's so many different ways to do it."
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