The Vintage Hippie Joint, located in Albuquerque's Old Town, offers a variety of goods from the 1960s, including clothes, books and more. Owned by Tonya Taylor-Ducker, who also designs for the store, and David Ducker, the namesake, opened the shop in the latter half of August 2022.
The Vintage Hippie Joint is packed with items for sale and decorations covering any empty space left over, leaving the owners with the struggle of finding space to put new inventory.
“We have to stay on top of it because it is a small space. I'm constantly nip-tucking and moving things around,” Taylor-Ducker said. “‘We should put this thing over here, there's about two inches over there that'll fit’.”
As partners, the couple strives to have their shop appeal to both locals of all ages and tourists through their decor, evocative of the Age of Aquarius.
“The theme is the 1960s Americana and mid-century Americana, but there are touches of Albuquerque throughout the store,” Ducker said. “We have to serve both tourists and locals. And they don't always want the same thing, but tourists are often looking for travel guides.”
Taylor-Ducker credits the store atmosphere with pulling in customers and allowing them to enjoy the store.
“People will come in and they go, ‘It's so comfortable in here.’ They say, ‘It's small, and it's packed, but in a good way,’” Taylor-Ducker said. “It feels really comfortable and they love the stereo and that we play music.”
The music played at the store comes from both a radio and a record player, which the owners use to blast music from the ‘60s and ‘70s.
“The rest of the vinyl that we have, we keep it for the store we play. That's why it's hidden back here, and some are on the floor. We keep them to play ourselves,” Taylor-Ducker said. “We always have our vinyl playing and everybody loves the vinyl stuff when they come back.”
Though designed to appeal to a wide audience, The Vintage Hippie Joint’s countercultural pastiche caters a unique experience, according to Ducker.
“We have the customer that comes in and maybe they're used to [shops] more like Macy's, Walmart and Walgreens. And this is weird. It doesn't feel right,” Ducker said. “And then you have the right kind of customer that comes in like, ‘Oh, I love this place. There's so much to see.’ And they end up spending over an hour here.”
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Elizabeth Secor is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @esecor2003
Elizabeth Secor is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted on Twitter @esecor2003
