Kristy and Chris McCullah have a knack for finding unique items people want.

At first, it was more of a hobby for the Seymour couple, collecting things on their own.

But it wasn’t long before they had more than they could handle.

“We had worked out of our home, and it got to the point where we just had so much stuff,” Kristy McCullah, 35, said. “We had to have a store front.”

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A couple of their relatives had rented space in the historic Vehslage building in downtown Seymour across from city hall and had opened a photography business and a custom-made lamp business there.

“They were here and said something to us about it,” Chris McCullah, 30, said.

The McCullah’s looked into the cost and available space and ended up renting a suite in the basement of the building, where they have opened their own business, McCullah’s Hidden Treasures.

“We kind of felt being in the basement, that’s what we are — a hidden treasure,” Kristy McCullah said.

They conducted their grand opening May 8.

“It’s a great old building,” Kristy McCullah added. “I really think with them putting a few new businesses in besides ours it will bring more traffic in.”

People will come in to check out McCullah’s Hidden Treasures, having seen it advertised on Facebook and are surprised by how many other businesses are actually in the building, she said.

“They’ve never been in this building, and there’s like 30 businesses here,” she said. “People just don’t realize that things are here, and I think if we can start getting traffic through that all the businesses will do well, but it’s just getting the word out and getting them in here.”

McCullah’s Hidden Treasures operates like a thrift store with a variety of items for sale.

“We carry a vast selection, anything from antiques to brand new jewelry,” Kristy McCullah said. “I also make handmade girls hair bows and clips.”

Although anyone can stop by and find a treasure to take home, the McCullahs also do a lot of custom orders for people.

“We do some custom woodwork and people come in and say I’m looking for an antique this or that, or I need 20 picnic chairs and we go find it for them,” Kristy McCullah said.

People are welcome to visit the store or contact them through Facebook to make requests for items anytime, she added.

“We have a book, so when people come in and they say they are looking for something, we have them fill out a card and we put it in our book so we can take it with us when we’re out buying,” Kristy McCullah said. “We have a real good history of being able to find things for people.”

To fill orders and to keep plenty of merchandise in their store, the couple frequent real estate auctions and places that are going out of business and liquidating merchandise.

“That way we can keep our prices low,” she said.

“Everything we have is reasonably priced,” Chris McCullah added. “We don’t overprice things just because it’s a store.”

It may not be a fancy way to describe what they do, but Kristy McCullah said they are “true junkers.”

“Growing up my grandma and grandpa collected antiques, a lot of antique toys,” Chris McCullah added. “They would buy them, fix them up and resell them.”

His grandfather, Everett Wilcher, was well known in the city, having been in charge of the Seymour Parks and Recreation Department for 30 years, Chris McCullah said.

In recent finds, the McCullahs have picked up a 1970s Honda Odyssey Racing bike, a couple of antique Singer sewing machines that work — one from the 1950s and the other from the 1920s and an early 1900s Victrola phonograph with the original records that still works.

“It needs a tune up but when the played it at the auction, I was like we have to get this, it’s fantastic,” Kristy McCullah said of the Victrola. “We’re just waiting for the right collector to come along for that.”

Old vinyl LP records also are a good seller for the McCullahs, which kind of surprises them, they said.

“We’ve actually sold a bunch,” Kristy McCullah said. “When he bought those, I said they won’t sell. I was amazed. People still really enjoy those.”

The couple tries to keep furniture and clothing available at the store, too, and they have amassed plenty of vintage cookbooks, DVDs and VHS movies, they said.

Kristy McCullah also gets a lot of interest from people in her jewelry and hair bows, she said.

She custom orders most of her jewelry from a wholesaler — mostly costume, sterling silver and white-gold over silver.

“I’m selling a lot of turquoise and fire-turquoise right now,” she said. “People are really into that look.”

Prices on the jewelry range from $5 to $40.

“I consider it soccer mom jewelry,” she said. “They can have a nice piece of jewelry that doesn’t cost them an arm and a leg, and they don’t have to feel guilty about it.”

She first started making hair bows for her daughter as a way to save money.

“She was 7, and she was wanting these hair bows and they were running me $8 to $10 a piece,” she said. “I said, I’m too crafty to be paying somebody else to do this. We’re going to figure out how mom can do it. And then I figured out I could do it cheaper and sell them cheaper.”

Kristy McCullah said she is able to sell her bows for $4 a piece or 3 for $10.

“It was out of self preservation, not to be broke,” she said.

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McCullah’s Hidden Treasures

Thrift store specializing in antiques, jewelry, handmade hair bows and custom orders.

Address: basement suite of the Vehslage Building, across from Seymour City Hall, 300 N. Chestnut St.

Owners: Kristy and Chris McCullah of Seymour

Contact: Kristy: 812-498-1653 or [email protected]; Chris: 812-498-7119 or [email protected]

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