Junket: Tossed & Found Expands

Occasional sales—sales by a retailer that pops up one or two weekends a month—are a uniquely Midwestern phenomenon. Most specialize in salvaged, repurposed, updated vintage furniture and home decor.

Despite the be-there-now specialness of a sale that only comes around once in a while, it’s always great news when an occasional sale expands to full-time. The latest to do so is Junket: Tossed & Found, which has been a fixture of the occasional shop circuit since 2010. Junket is one of eight secondhand shops (including Turquoise Vintage (formerly Tumbleweed Vintage), Paris Antiques, TNT This ‘N That, E’s Emporium, and Plum Crabby Vintage) located along a one-mile stretch of Minnehaha Avenue in South Minneapolis, nicknamed “Second-Hand Alley” and “Second-Hand Row.”

Junket carries a mix of recycled and vintage household items and furniture; vintage clothing, shoes, and accessories; local art and gifts made with secondhand elements; and found materials that encourage creative reuse (like vintage fabric, old photos, and salvaged knobs and hardware).

With the expansion comes an artful addition: owner Julie Kearns has joined forces with Longfellow artist and educator Meg Erke for a series of weekly creative workshops. The free, drop-in workshops encourage customers to get creative with salvaged items. September workshops include envelope making, watercolor painting, suminagashi (Japanese ink marbling technique), and bookmaking. (View the full list on shopjunket.eventbrite.com.) Inspiring customers to create their own DIY projects from the shop’s ample offerings is a smart move.

Before it kicks off its first full week of business next Wednesday, September 3, Junket is hosting one last “bonus sale” this weekend, with storewide reductions of 20 to 50 percent off. Here’s a preview of this weekend’s sale:

“Bonus Sale”: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri., Aug. 29-Sun., Aug. 31. Free workshops 6:30-8 p.m. Thursdays beginning Sept. 4. Open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wed.-Sun. weekly beginning next Wed., Sept. 3. 4049 Minnehaha Ave., Mpls., 612-293-6863, shopjunket.com.