Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Passion for thrift stores inspires couple to open downtown shop

Daft Junk Downtown Vintage Thrift Shop

Christopher DeVargas

Jessica and Joe Arellano, owners of the new vintage thrift shop Daft Junk, pose for a photo, Friday Oct. 19, 2018.

Daft Junk Downtown Vintage Thrift Shop

A look at Daft Junk, a new vintage thrift shop on Main Street, downtown Las Vegas, Friday Oct. 19, 2018. Launch slideshow »

There’s a new thrift store in downtown Las Vegas, and if its wares aren’t reason enough to give vintage pickers a reason to visit, its name is.

Owned by Joe and Jessica Arellano, Daft Junk — a play on the name of French electronic duo Daft Punk — opened in early September at 1056 S. Main Street. The shop includes everything from old knick-knacks like vintage Coca-Cola bottles and Pyrex to furniture, housewares and clothing. Prices range from affordable (as low as $0.92 for miscellaneous glassware) to expensive, but compared with other stores in the area and online thrift shops, Daft Junk’s prices fall on the reasonable end of the vintage spectrum.

“This is all my junk,” Jessica Arellano says.

Originally from Southern California, the couple moved to Las Vegas in 2003 and have been seeking found treasures ever since.

Inside the shop, Portishead, Garbage and the Smashing Pumpkins play overhead, keeping in line with Daft Junk’s mid-'90s music theme. There’s an assortment of used vinyl records, cassettes, VHS tapes and DVDs, too, and a treasure trove of lamps, vintage beer signs and more.

Jessica Arellano says she was going to stick to selling items on eBay, but her husband talked her into opening a store. Branded as a shop for “contemporary classics and vintage thrift,” there’s a little something for every kind of shopper.

As for how the place got its name, Jessica Arellano says that was her husband’s idea. “We were going to go with Junk in Public,” she explains, “but that was already taken.” Instead, Joe Arellano channeled his love for the famed duo and Daft Junk was born. “We’ve been antique and thrift store junkies for decades,” the store’s Facebook page reads. “We did this because we love it and always wanted to see our dream to run our own shop come to fruition.”