Sammy and Johnny - yes it sounds Mellencampish or Man in Blackish - are a duo of artisans that can be found in actions and inanimate objects: the luster of a finish; the brush strokes of a painted vestry cabinet; the warm glow from a horse lamp. Kid you not. It’s true. And before this goes any further, it is Samantha Ayala and Johnny Wheeler…but Sammy and Johnny will suffice.
Several years back, the couple relocated to Del Rio, Texas from the Rio Grande Valley and immediately connected with its people and culture. It wasn’t long before they began selling the usual suspects at the flea market and dabbling in vintage items and home decor.
Eventually, vintage and home morphed into old furniture - as Sammy referred to it - but customers likened their merchandise to antiques and soon the word “antiques” muscled its way into the appellation.
She describes their items in terms of emotions and personification. “Everything makes you feel something in some way. The pieces have to be happy. They need to make you feel something…people, they buy memories back.”
Sammy’s tagline, “Live with what you love,” applies to all of the crafted works of beauty that inhabit their space. “I would never bring anything to my shop that I did not love,” she declares.
Sammy had always clutched to a particular vision of what the business would look like and today their inspired ideas have become moving pieces. “I think what people experience is the vision of my dreams.”