Hi, my name is Christian Johnson. I am the owner of The Odd Shop in Downtown New Albany, Indiana. The Odd Shop has been open for almost nine years now and has been a labor of love from the very beginning. I am so incredibly thankful to be able to do what I love, to curate a magical place and to restore and save vintage items in hopes to find them a home. The shop has grown so much in these years, but we absolutely could not have accomplished this growth without our amazing community of customers.

Unfortunately, on Wednesday, November 12th at 5pm, I walked into the shop like I always do to feed our two shop cats (Dottie and Bug), when I discovered water pouring through the ceiling. Water was pouring out from the upstairs and had puddled several inches on the floor, a portion of the ceiling had collapsed and I was told that if I had not found it when I did, that likely the entirety of the shop could have collapsed as well. Though I am completely overwhelmed and devastated, I am still counting my blessings and I am just so thankful that our kitties were safe in the front of the store and were unaffected by the water and the collapse.

One of the water lines in the upstairs bathroom had busted causing the downpour, which caused water damage to well over a thousand items in the backroom and unfortunately cannot be salvaged. Not only is this devastating in general, it is especially tragic given how much time we invest into the preservation of saving vintage items that now can no longer be saved.

Some of the items include vintage books, cds, clothing, vinyl records, displays, action figures, comic books, trading cards, and unfortunately so much more. Thankfully, we have insurance and our policy should cover some of the damage to our inventory, but it will most likely be several months until we get paid out for the damages. We are now currently enduring the very overwhelming process of photographing and cataloguing all of the items that we have lost, but this is an incredibly painstaking and tedious process and will most definitely take a very long time to accomplish, which will undoubtedly draw out and delay our insurance payout. Between cataloging the damaged inventory, demolition and construction in the building and getting everything reorganized once again, we are unfortunately unsure when we will be able to open up the shop. This is the worst possible season for us to be closed, we heavily rely on the income we bring in from the Christmas season and have already lost so many potential sales from this weekend alone, and it makes me so incredibly sad when I see customers come to the door only to be disappointed that we are closed.

We are doing the best to regroup and are hoping to at least open the front half of the shop up here in the near future, but we are still in the process of assessing the damages so I am unsure when the shop will be fully operational again, but please check our social media for any updates on this situation. The funds we are seeking are in hopes to keep all of the bills paid during this transition.

We appreciate any amount you're able to give, but also want to express our understanding to those who may not be in a position to donate, and ask only to help us share our story in hopes to get The Odd Shop up and running again soon.

Thanks and Love, Christian <3