Shop for antique treasures at You’nique Finds in Rapid City

Photo curtesy of You’nique Finds’ Facebook page.

You’nique Finds is an eclectic antique store celebrating six years of business in Rapid City. 

Jen Harlan owns You’nique Finds with her husband, and the pair is excited to offer new, old and local goods to the Black Hills.

“We’re really excited,” said Harlan. “Six years ago, on August 1st, we decided to take a leap of faith and present our wonderful store to our community. And six years later, here we are!”

The Harlans travel all around the country to hunt for the best treasures to bring back to Rapid City.

“I’ve traveled nationwide to bring back the very best of antique and vintage items. We feel like it’s important for us to bring back things that are unique to our area and unique regionally. When you kind of expand your travels, you’re able to get more items,” said Harlan.

Not only do the Harlans sell antiques, they also offer local goods from artists and artisans in the Black Hills area.

“So we like to classify ourselves as where new meets old meets local,” said Harlan. “So we do have some new items, those are typically made from local artists. We have local artisans in here, and then also anything from vintage, which we typically classify from the 20s to probably the 60s, and then antique is older than 100 years, in the 1920s or before.”

For the Harlans, part of the fun of running an antique store is collecting items which represent different regions of the nation.

“So, last August and September, we were up in Maine, Connecticut, New York, which was great. It’s just interesting seeing the items that are in different regions. So we really loved that. We brought back a couple amazing things— an old boat compass, a really cool advertising sign, buoys, just things we found along the way that we felt represented our trip. We went to the Elephant Trunk Flea Market, which was really a lot of fun, it’s featured on Flea Market Flip. We go to Kansas once or twice a year, and then we typically try to go to Nashville, or just really wherever the road takes,” said Harlan.

The shop isn’t just full of the Harlans’ finds, You’nique Finds encourages visitors to bring in any items they wish to part with, and someone from the shop will check them out.

 “Yeah, people can absolutely bring things,” said Harlan. “And you know, what we hear a lot of the times is ‘We’re downsizing,’ or ‘My parents are downsizing,’ or ‘We’ve had a loss in the family, we would like you to come in and take a look.’ We do require an appointment, so please call us to make an appointment. Somebody is not always here that can purchase. We’re also a resource referral if it’s something that we can’t, we don’t feel like we can sell it here. I like to kind of give people ideas of where the best place to sell it is.”

You’nique Finds is not just a store, it’s an experience. The Harlans are regularly moving items around and rearranging the store so every visit is unique.

“I always like to tell our customers that this is an experience,” said Harlan. “So when they come in, I want the music to be good and the smells to be good and I want the shopping experience to be good. So our vignettes are set up as that. So as you walk through, you’re able to absorb all of the wonderful treasures throughout. It really is like a treasure hunt, but sometimes you miss it. You miss things because your eyes are focused on different things. So we’re always changing it up, we’re always rearranging, and we do want it to be, if you were to come in here every week, for you to have a different experience of shopping and different treasures to purchase.”

For the Harlans, You’nique Finds has always been an opportunity to build a sense of community in the Black Hills,

“It just becomes like a big family here at You’nique Finds. We have many repeat customers,” said Harlan. “It is like taking a trip through time, it’s about the things that we forget from our childhood, or the things that remind us of grandma that we can have a conversation about. It’s a blessing. I absolutely love what I do. I love the customers that come in here.”

To stay up-to-date on the treasures available at You’nique Finds, visit their Facebook page here.