Sometimes Robin Morgan sees a bride getting photographed beneath the words “Peace, Love & Comfort,” painted on the side of her building that houses The 8th Street Market. It’s the ultimate moment when the something old that is the shop’s antiques and the something new that is a woman in love come together. (And the word Comfort is even written in blue.)
That’s what 8th Street Market is all about — bringing together old and new, with a good cup of coffee on the side. The shop is owned by Morgan, with a little help from her sons Dustin and Scott.
The building was originally a 1940s Ford dealership, Stieler Motor Co. Over time it had been subdivided into several businesses, including a beauty salon and a Mexican restaurant. There were multiple entry doors and lots of debris. When Robin and her husband first came to look at the building with a real estate agent, he was interested, but she was not.
“He kept saying, ‘Go look at it.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, no. I’m not coming in,’” she said. Then she took a chance. “It was like a maze. I went into the very back, looked up and saw the ceiling, constructed with sections of World War II-era steel silos. The ceiling went all the way to the front. I thought to myself, ‘This might work.’”
They purchased the building in 2015 and began cleaning up the space, removing “Dumpster load after dumpster load after dumpster load,” Robin said. The shop opened in May 2016.
Robin is not a typical antiquer. She got into the business for sentimental reasons.
“What I enjoy is not so much antiques as restoring pieces from my grandparents,” she said. “I love to preserve the past and share it with family. That’s what my love was and is.”
In that way she sees the furniture, collectibles, art, and architectural items from the 30 to 40 vendors at 8th Street as part of a community of people who want to preserve old things. The store’s main interior flows from one space to the next — a shopper can’t tell where one vendor stops and the next begins.
“We want to be a family with our vendors, our employees, and our customers,” she said. “Our vendors are from all over Texas, and they shop all over the world. We have a waiting list to get in. Once they get in, they usually don’t leave.”
There are different types of customers who come to 8th Street. Weekends bring visitors from out of town, perhaps looking for a small treasure they can take home. They may also find a dining room suite they fall in love with.
“In the summer we have a lot of visitors from Houston and Dallas, dropping off kids for camp,” Robin said. “We have a huge Christmas Extravaganza event in November that brings in people.”
Then there are the designers and builders who come looking for a particular item for a house — a leather chair, a piece of vintage yard art, a set of glassware, a clock.
“We’ve got a lot of out-of-state people, a lot from California,” she said.
And then there are the locals. They are the ones who follow the advice of words painted on a back wall of the building: “Come Often, Stay Awhile.” They like to shop and hang out at Comfort Coffee Co., inside the store.
Robin says her sons, Scott and Dustin, are the coffee snobs. Dustin worked as a barista in Seattle before returning to Texas. It’s his aim to make sure customers get a good cup of coffee.
“We take it serious — we’re not just pushing buttons. It’s a little bit more detailed,” Dustin said. “What makes a good cup of coffee is focusing.”
Scott Morgan says they get their beans from Merit Coffee Co.
“We keep a fresh rotating selection of retail coffees that Merit changes out and switches up,” he said. “Some of our drinks are traditional. Some we concoct.”
Scott says it’s easy to spot the locals. They’re the ones who come in as soon as the store opens.
“There’s a little deal here we call the cowboy group — locals who like to have that table when they’re here, first thing in the morning,” he said.
Comfort Coffee also sells mugs and tumblers with its logo. And it offers food along with the drinks — sandwiches, pastries, and baked goods. The food side is all Robin.
“It’s my grandparents’ recipes, all homemade. I use real butter, real vanilla,” she said. “Once again, it’s that family lineage thing.”
Robin likes it when a Bible study meets at the shop or a homeschool group.
“I love that Comfort is a small town. I love knowing all the customers,” she said. “We welcome families and children.”
8th Street has an outdoor play area, shaded by a pecan tree. Surrounding it are even more buildings filled with goodies for sale. A Garden Room over here, half a Quanza hut over there. Two shipping containers in the back have been converted into show space. The greenhouse was constructed from architectural items once thought to be trash.
“We used old windows and beams to build it,” Robin said. “We shopped here to create that.”
Outdoor tables and chairs make the backyard a great space for music and special events, like Vintage Flea, held twice a year. On the first Saturday of October and the first Saturday of March dozens of vendors from across Texas gather in the 3-acre open space to sell their wares from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“It’s a mini-Round Top,” Robin said. “We have wine tastings from a local vineyard, plants, furniture, vintage clothing — a great assortment.”
Robin loves autumn, when the store turns over its merchandise to focus on warm browns and bright pumpkins.
“We sell pumpkins from West Texas,” she said. “We apply a special treatment to them. People come here to buy them because they last a lot longer.”
The 8th Street Market is located at 523 8th Street. It’s open Tuesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (4 p.m. on Sunday). Comfort Coffee is inside.
The Peace, Love & Comfort logo is always open for
photographs.