10/17/2026
Tomorrow marks one year since we officially opened the doors to Mr. W***y’s Dark Art and Oddities. 🖤
We were hoping this anniversary post would be a little easier to write, but it is unfortunately one of the hardest.
After a lot of conversations and some very difficult soul-searching, we’ve decided that we will be closing our shop doors sometime in the coming months. We’re beginning to put together an exit plan, and while we don’t have a final closing date yet, we wanted you to hear the news from us.
When we opened, business was strong, and we were so excited about what we could build here in downtown DeKalb. We still have plenty of people coming through our doors, and we love that. But getting people through the door and making enough sales to keep it open are two different things.
We know so many folks are stretching their budgets just to cover the necessities. As much as we would personally like to classify a tiny skeleton or a wonderfully creepy piece of art as an essential household expense, apparently groceries and electricity get priority. Rude, but understandable. 😉
There is no blame in that. We understand, and we’re facing some difficult choices ourselves. We simply can’t keep the shop going on the sales we’re seeing.
That’s the hard part to share. But there is so much about this year that we want to celebrate.
We’ve been proud to take part in downtown festivals, community events, and charity efforts. We’ve loved getting to know our neighbors, sharing the work of our artists and vendors, and watching people discover something here that made their wonderfully weird little hearts happy.
Something that has truly meant the world to us is being able to pay nearly 30 artists every single month for the past year. Getting to put money into the hands of creative people for the incredible things they make has been one of the most rewarding parts of this whole adventure. Every time you purchased their work, you helped make that possible. Thank you.
And beyond what was on the shelves, we’ve loved being a place where people could feel comfortable being themselves.
To our LGBTQ+ friends, our gothic community, and anyone who has ever walked into a room and wondered whether they belonged: we hope you never had to wonder that here.
A few religious pamphlets and a hateful protester weren’t going to change who we welcomed. We meant it when we said you belonged here. We still do.
We also want to be clear that our conventions and events will continue through our parent company, Breaking Fate Entertainment. We hope you’ll keep coming out, finding your favorite artists and vendors, and supporting their work at our various conventions and events. There are still plenty of opportunities for us to gather and be weird together. (Our next event is the Dark Art and Oddities Con: www.darkartandodditiescon.com )
We’re also still hoping to bring our newest endeavor, Peculiar Lot Auctions & Estates, to life in this next chapter. Apparently, even while making one of the hardest decisions we’ve faced, we’re still incapable of running out of ideas.
To our artists and vendors: thank you so very much for being part of this project with us. Thank you for trusting us with your creations and helping fill this place with so much personality. We know this news brings questions, and we’ll be in touch with everyone as soon as we have our exit strategy put together so we can walk through the next steps with you.
To everyone who bought something, shared a post, brought a friend, or told someone, “You HAVE to see this place,” thank you. You helped make this little shop feel like somewhere worth belonging.
We’re sad. Of course we are. We’ve put a lot of ourselves into this place. But we’re also so grateful that we got to open these doors and meet the people who walked through them.
We’re still here for now. We’ll share our plans and a closing date as things become clearer. In the meantime, come celebrate a year with us, enjoy the strange and beautiful things, support your favorite artists, and let us thank you in person.
With love, gratitude, and probably a little crooked eyeliner by the time we finish writing this,
Shoobie & Mr. W***y 🖤
