Behind the Orange Brick Wall - Part 2 Texarrakis

This is Part 2 of my new series featuring wonderful shops that have never been selected for Etsy's coveted FRONT PAGE (click here to go see Etsy's front page right now). Check out Part 1 to read my thoughts on why people are (or aren't) chosen for the Front Page. Etsy's Front Page images of 20 different items, rotates about every 20 minutes and are chosen by Etsy staff using their own secret criteria.

The first feature will be curiously wonderful shop Texarrakis Obscurities. Texarrakis Obscurities has been open since March 19, 2010 and in that time has never been featured on their front page. Here's my delightful interview with Texarrakis:


Me: Texarrakis, you have a lovely collection of vintage items in your shop. How do you select which items appear in your shop? Do you hunt them, or do they find you?


Texarrakis: Oh I like to think I am the hunter, but I believe, in reality, I might actually be the hunted. I scour thrift stores, flea-markets, yard sales, weird old antique malls for items. Sometimes I will spend an hour or two somewhere and not leave with a single item, or I'll spend fifteen minutes in a place and leave with ten amazing items.. I never know how it's going to work. The main criteria my item has to pass is whether I want it for myself or not. That is how everything has ended up in my shop, I think everything is amazing and I secretly want all of my items all to myself, that fit my bizarre aesthetic.





But now I have an overpowering amount of items (over 100 that haven't been listed yet), that seem to need constant attention and care, so I don't know, perhaps I have been manipulated somehow into acquiring them all...

Me:So your fans can look forward to 100 new items in the future? What sort of new items do you have in store for us?





Texarrakis: Oh well they can probably look forward to more then 100. I've quit my day job, and am moving from the city to the desert and mountains of far West Texas to attempt doing my Etsy store full time, which is why I've been in super awesome item hoarding mode for the last month, collecting all of these items. I have maybe 120 items all lined up, ready to photo and list. A lot of random goodies, twelve vintage cameras, goblets, more color slides from the late 1960s, and a whole lot of amazing books, including many Star Trek novels, Dune novels, and Choose Your Own Adventure books, which are my personal favorite of the store.

Me:I LOVE Dune! I'm a book hoarder myself, so I can definitely see the attraction. So what brought you to Etsy?

Texarrakis: Oh yes, Dune was the inspiration for my shop title; Texas + Arrakis = TEXARRAKIS. The name wasn't created FOR the shop, it's for the project that brought me to Texas originally. When I was 19 I bought five acres of land out in West Texas, about 80 miles from where I'm moving to. Last year me and some friends moved out to that property to start Fort Awesome, and we called the whole project Texarrakis, since we were trying to make something out of living in the desert. One of our plans was to start an Etsy store out there, but let me tell you, that is more difficult to accomplish in the middle of the desert completely off grid and out of tents then we imagined. For some reason. The whole project crumbled when we ran out of money.

But then in January, my girlfriend helped me get my Etsy store off the ground, and pushed me in the right directions to make it as awesome as I possibly could. And it has blossomed into something amazing! I love Etsy and the entire community here -- wonder people and shops all around.

Me: Texas + Arrakis! That's deliciously geeky! I love it! It sounds like Etsy is a big part of your life, do you also have a "day job"?

Texarrakis: I just quit my day job as an office manager to pursue Etsy full time. I'm not at a place with it where I'm making quite enough to support myself yet, but I was able to save up enough money to pay for rent ahead of time for three months, allowing me to give it a shot. My store is growing rapidly, and I make enough on Etsy to cover all of rent and some expenses, so my hope is that by the end of the three months I won't have to return to the workforce, or at least maybe just extremely part time.

Me:Out of all the items in your shop right now, which is your favourite?

Texarrakis: Out of all the items in my shop, this is my favorite right now I think: www.etsy.com/listing/70449923/choose-your-own-adventure-you-are-a Not because it's like a top item I'm going to make money off of, but I truly love this book, it sparked years of imaginative fun for me. I still, to this day, find myself sitting around thinking about this book. I've noticed a lot of books being sold on Etsy basically as like home decor, but I really like having my shop full of books I actually think people will enjoy reading.

Me:I do have one more question, last one, I swear. What's your opinion on Etsy's Front Page?


Texarrakis: I like it ok. It's hard for me to gauge though, I try and remember back to when I barely knew what Etsy was . . . I feel like the front page is good for people who already know what Etsy is, but to new people who aren't logged in, it should read, in huge bold letters, "THE WORLD'S LARGEST MARKETPLACE OF HANDMADE AND VINTAGE GOODS", flashing across the screen. Or something. I don't know. The front page right now is very classy, I like that, but for new people maybe there should be a bit more fanfare.

This last photo is my own favourite item from Texarrakis' shop. It's on my wish list. Now that you've read this awesome interview, go check out Texarrakis Obscurities and support artists and vintage collectors who don't fit the "aesthetic". After all, that's what art is about isn't it?