Huckleberries Online

OTV: Youth Ranch Moving On Up

Posted by DFO

Feb. 20, 2009 10:49 p.m. • 6 comments

What the %*@# was a Medidi Monkey anyway? I never did venture in that bad California-lady acid trip of a furniture boutique with the silly name, which briefly held existence in the old Ponderosa motors building on in Midtown Cd’A. Something much better is moving in, or rather moving on up. The Idaho Youth Ranch Thrift Store is relocating one block north on 4th street somewhere toward the end of this month. Their current spot will become a pile of rubble to make way for some “affordable urban” condos. Hm. This is a little sad for two reasons. One: I’m enough of a geezer to remember when that building was the mighty Sears Catalog Store, before Coeur d’Alene was actually big enough to merit an actual Sears store. The Sears catalog was a massive and delightful tome, and the Christmas “Wish Book” was an annual event for the whole fam. I remember poring through them for hours, picking out school clothes then going in that store with my mom to stand in line and order, returning in a few days to stand in line again and pick up our order in grey paper packages. Seems like they had a ton of washers and dryers and maybe a TV or two on site, but that was it. I’ll miss being able to visit that space/OrangeTV. More Random Bits from Get Out! North Idaho here.

Question: Which Inland Northwest thrift store is your favorite?

Six comments on this post so far. Add yours!

OrangeTV on February 21 at 9:51 a.m.
DFO, thet question is a serious re-run. What I really wanna know is if anyone besides me remembers that weird old Sears catalog store or did I just dream it up?
Bent on February 21 at 10:47 a.m.
OTV, we did the catalog store thing every school year and christmas too.

You always knew who was shoppping sears back then because they were the ones wearing “tough skins” jeans and “converse” tennis shoes (before they were cool). Those tough skins, and even the converse shoes, came in various colors, so you could order matching shoes, jeans and shirts.

I remember dressing up for my first day of school in the 6th grade. I wore my burgandy colored tennis shoes that matched my burgandy colored tough skins and burgandy striped long sleeved crew top…

Dang, I thought I looked pretty sharp… but the kids at school, not so much…I don’t think I have worn burgand since then…
mia on February 21 at 10:49 a.m.
Oh no, my friend, you did not dream it up. I too remember it.
Kendramama on February 22 at 8:38 a.m.
I have a third reason to bemoan the move. What about that freaky mural on the side of it? That is the same building, right? We always make a game of trying to identify every rock, soul, or country star painted on there… now, we’ll have only memories.
/wipes sentimental tear from eye
Escapee on February 23 at 12:20 a.m.
The Sears Catalog store was indeed located there. That’s where I bought a copy of Creedence’s “Willy and the Poorboys” album. Seriously. I couldn’t find it in any of the record shops at the time. I ordered it thru the Sears Catalog.
joebu on February 23 at 8:35 a.m.
As usual, I like OrangeTV’s column and have good memories of Sears and the Wish Book. Idaho Youth Ranch was already here when I moved to town, although I decorated some of my first apartment with some of their inventory and enjoy browsing whenever I drop off donations.

But I do need to call anti-California bias on OrangeTV… even though I never purchased anything at Medidi Monkey, I visited it a few times. The owners, Jeanne Norton and Crissy Wortman have both lived in this area for years. Jeanne and her husband Gary (Silverwood’s owner) are from CA but have lived here for about 30 years. Crissy is from Manchester, England. The idea of the store was smart— very high end antiques and accessories, but it probably wasn’t the best location. Maybe downtown, The Plaza or Riverstone, or a secret by-appointment office would have worked better? The ‘driving by’ crowd may not be interested in a $14,000 giraffe figurine or a bed made from rare Brazilian rainforest hardwood. I almost purchased a ‘clearance’ lifesize Buddha statue for $200 once. But the California reference bugged this California native — I’m a little sensitive to it.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.