‘Is it a Shop or is it a Destination?’ Curio Junction owner Dawn Frogson talks to me in the latest interview about art, inspiration, work and life as an antique dealer..

By Gabriella Collins

‘Is this shop for ladies?’ one of Dawn Frogson’s customers asked when entering the mysterious time capsule ‘Curio Junction’ just off the corner of Hyde Park Road. As the once brightly painted pink and turquoise ‘Mr Scarecrow’s Attic’ had all of a sudden taken on a transformation, not of darkness into light but aesthetically lightness into dark; passers-by cannot help but be curious as to take a peek at the uncanny and yet equally extravagant displays, that the windows reveal of the treasures and art installations that can be found waiting inside.

What were your inspirations for coming up with the name ‘Curio Junction’?

The shop sits on a junction, and with the use of the post code, alike with places in London, I wanted people to question ‘is it a shop or is it a place?’ I wanted it to be intriguing and unique.

Have you always wanted to do what you’re doing today? And what steps did you take to become your own business?

Yes I have, I am the fourth generation of dealer within my family. My great Grandmother sold silk stockings in the war.

I feel as for the steps in becoming my own business is a lot to do with the saying ‘curiosity killed the cat’. But the love for old things and a love for fashion and clothing plays a big part in it, as well as being a bit attention seeking!
I spend a lot of my time planning, I never stop thinking about what and where to source things etc. I like to think more about what it is to trend set rather than what’s in trend.

What does your average week look like?

I usually spend Saturday evening up until Tuesday up and down the country sourcing stock, and connections with other antique dealers. During the week I’m in the shop, as well as using social networking sites such as Instagram and Facebook posting about Curio Junction. I also appeared on Channel 5’s ‘Storage: Flog The Lot!’ and won! I also do a lot with Plymouth College of Art as I find it such an inspirational place in Plymouth and I feel Plymouth is really finding its place in the art world.

How would you describe your sense of style and how does this influence you and what you buy and sell? Who are your inspirations?

Hmm… Eclectic! Unique, thought inspiring, as well as the shop perhaps being a bit uncomfortable and questioning. I have a circus thing going on at the moment, there’s a lot of gold and I’ve just made a backwards clock!

People inspire me, I like to people watch; art is a funny thing, it’s how you class it.
I’m inspired by things such as the way many old people write; it’s like calligraphy, young people nowadays don’t write in the same way any more. There is a definite loss of skill in this sense. There were a lot of secret people back in times like after the war, who would craft things and make and paint things, without it being acknowledged as art.

What advice would you give to someone that would like start up their own business alike with your own?

Never get in debt! That way you can always do what you want. It is almost impossible in this era to do what you want. If you start small, like people starting or planning in their bedrooms or while living at home with their parents, then you can be a free spirit. Don’t start with a noose around your neck. I’m in contact with people all around the world, the New York Bronx for example. The world is open, and I’m no techno but all you need is a laptop.

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Twitter: @Thriftshopuk

Images available at:

Dawn Frogson. (2014/2015). Curio Junction. Available: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Curio-Junction/800809869989305?sk=photos_stream. Last accessed 01/04/15.