One of the most interesting aspects of any small town is the shops that provide a homegrown quality, offering something that not only makes the experience unique but the community memorable, which is what the owner of Whats Old Is New Again has done. Christy Dean is originally from New York but her heart is in her shop in Holbrook where she has brought to life her dream to have what she calls “a little mom and pop shop.” She opened in December of 2021 and offers one-of-a-kind pieces at a reasonable price, as well as an abundance of sweet treats and even petrified wood in a nod to the historic ‘Rock Shop’ sign out front.
Walking in, there’s a cozy couch in front of a fireplace providing a space for kids to enjoy some candy and even sit with a book from one of the shelves while their parents take in all of the treasures displayed throughout the store.
The shop is located in the old Pow Wow rock shop building on Navajo Blvd., and Dean is hoping to have the large kachina sign out front refurbished but has struggled to get the word out. She has even created a Go Fund Me page with the hopes that someday the funds will become available.
The shop itself is full of unique and interesting antiques, a wide selection of jewelry, both hand crafted and antique, and an entire section of the store dedicated to old fashioned candies. Dean explained how in their purchases she and her husband Joshua find many unique items and sometimes that includes military memorabilia. When that occurs, an extra effort is made to ensure that if possible, the family is contacted to see if they would like it. “When my husband finds military stuff at an estate sale, he tries to find the family. Most of them are just very grateful that he’s done that because it’s their mom, it’s their dad, it’s their uncle or grandfather.” This is an important aspect of their collection efforts, especially for Joshua an Arizona native who is retired after serving 26 years in the Army where he served as a combat medic, retiring as a master sergeant.
Referring to the shop Dean stated, “You really won’t find anything else like this in Holbrook and we wanted to be different from everybody else.” One of the main reasons she opened the shop was to help support the dog sanctuary that she and her husband have at their home in the outskirts of town. “We have 11 dogs. We found nine of them outside our gate near the Petrified Forest.” Dean ultimately wants a sanctuary for more animals, which in addition to the dogs also includes chickens, goats and two pot belly pigs.
Dean also hosts parties for kids in the community at the shop, the most recent held at Halloween and another at Christmas. “We had Santa here and were giving bikes away,” she said excitedly. She emphasized how important it is to have a space that not only provides interest, but also gives back to the community.
“We want to create an experience. We want to continue to improve the shop and plan to repaint the floor to have it colorful, to direct the kids to where the candy shop is and the tourists to the petrified wood.” Dean is also going to expand her offerings to include homemade dog treats. “My former business was a baking business, where I made cakes and cookies.”
Kristy invites people to come by and see all she is offering, and visit with her pups. “We love having the kids come in with their parents, there’s plenty for everyone to enjoy.” She also creates gift baskets with candy, jewelry, stones, and/or crystals, or people can bring in what they want to give and we can create a gift basket for them.
The shop is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday. To learn more about Whats Old Is New Again, visit Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Retrocandyshop and also on Tik Tok.
