The odd, the unique and a fuzzy pup to say hello

Deb Lorenz-Hendrickson isn’t the first to greet each customer or lookie loo as they walk through the doors of the Moose-n-Goose, but rather her 2-year-old companion, Putz.

Hendrickson moved her antique and framing shop to Sidney about a year ago, having been in business in Lodgepole for 11 years with a previous year in Chappell.

Her decision to move to Sidney was because of the increased foot traffic she would have and “I outgrew my building and it was the right time.

“I was waiting for my kids to get to where they didn’t need me right there (in Lodgepole) all the time for school. The youngest is now in high school so I was ready to go,” she said.

Sole proprietor of the Moose-N-Goose, Hendrickson prides herself on the unique and one of kind items she finds and has for sale in her shop.

She attributes her ability to bring in so many interesting and unique items to her many vendors and artists, the many ‘hunts’ she goes on and her willingness to put certain things on consignment.

There are two ways she puts a piece or item on consignment, either the person will bring it into her shop and ask her to sell it for them or “if I’m out and about and I see something I absolutely love and I can’t afford to pick it up myself or I am a bit scared I will have some investment tied up in it and it may not move quickly and I have a lot of money tied up in it,” she said she will offer to take it on consignment.

For consignment she said she takes both artistic pieces as well as antique items and a slot machine she has in her shop, something she said someone would pick up for a game room.

One of her most unique objects on consignment is a Victorian baby coffin, “I’ve had it for a long time, it’s got the viewing window in it. It’s something really unique. It’s something that should be on that show “Oddities.” It’s kind of creepy almost, but you know you never know what is going to be brought in on consignment.”

The antique side of her business, which is the majority of her shop, is a part of her business she finds a great adventure in finding on her own as well and she admits antiques are a part of her business very close to her heart, especially what she fondly calls the ‘hunt.’

The ‘hunt’ is when she goes out to various yard sales, auctions, flea markets and other antique stores all of which she turns into an adventure that takes her out of state on occasion.

“It’s the hunt, I don’t really care about selling it or displaying it, it’s the hunt,” she said in reference to what captured her heart when antiquing. “Everyone (the hunt) is unique and special in its own way and you always meet awesome people when you go out. That is the fun of it for me, meeting the people.

“I have been doing this as a business for 15 years, but on my own since I was 10. I can remember going to yard sales at the neighbors and hauling a bunch of stuff I didn’t want over, like toys and what not. It gets to be where it’s in your blood.”

On one of her adventures Hendrickson stumbled across a rare and unique find, “‘Lone Wolf.’ It is a print, an old print, it was given as a gift when you filled your tank or it may have come in soap, I am not really certain how it was given away, but it was really popular in the 20s and 30s. It’s a print of a wolf standing on a snow covered hill in the twilight overlooking a town or a farmstead, there were a couple of different ones, and I found one that the wolf is looking the wrong way. He is looking to the left instead of the right. I didn’t realize what I had until I brought it home and hung it up. That is the one that is really hard to find and really rare.”

Discovering the mistake in the print of such a popular old time picture is something she compared to the Holy Grail of finds, making her adventure that day even more rewarding.

The other side of her business is framing, something Hendrickson has been doing for the past 13 years.

Her interest in framing lead her to pursuing an education in specialty matting and framing of pictures after an apprenticeship so she could further her abilities, creating perfect framing windows for all pictures brought to her.

And since she is a self-proclaimed, “art finder and an art dealer” saying she deals in art “for almost all the major publishing houses like Wild Wings Number One and Summer Set House,” to name a couple making this talent in framing very much needed.

With her love of art and understanding the value art has she said she is very strict about how she will frame any given piece, taking special care to keep each piece at optimum value.

“I do only conservation framing, which means I do no harm to the subject. I will not glue a subject to a board unless it’s a poster. Anything I put into a frame is completely removable that way it holds its value.

“Especially when you get some old documents. I have framed presidential documents and grandmas old booties. I even had someone enquire about framing their wedding veil, because it was their grandmothers,” saying that the importance of the items, even if not of value to someone else, holds a great deal of value to the person.

However, when it comes to framing and selling art pieces in her own store she said she searches high and low, from yard sales to auctions, art shows to online Hendrickson said she keeps her eyes open for all kinds of artistic pieces.

Locally, Hendrickson said she has purchased pieces from “the Art Guild’s Spring Art show. There is a really good gallery in Ogallala and I have purchased a few things there or met a few artist from there that I purchase pieces from.”

Granted most art work comes pre-framed, but she said quite often someone will bring in a piece to be reframed because “people buy art and don’t like the frame it’s in, because it doesn’t work with the décor. They love the art but not the frame.”

She doesn’t just frame artistic pieces, if there is a picture a customer wishes to have specialty framed, like a senior picture, she said to come on in, she can hook you up with about any kind of frame imaginable.

Hendrickson said she is happy to be a part of the business community in Sidney and has no regrets in moving her store here and has even found a few ways to give back to the community.

One of these ways is by employing some of the Office of Human Development clients to sand and paint some of her frames for her, “I love hiring them and I think it is going to be wonderful. They are closely supervised and do beautiful work.

“I have an older sister that is handicapped and this is something that is close to my heart. They did two pieces for me that both turned out beautifully. They were on a trial period kind of thing, I am really excited they are helping me,” she said.