In addition to being a burlesque dancing office manager for Frank Fritz and Mike Wolfe’s Antique Archaeology, American Pickers star Danielle Colby Cushman is also a shop owner herself. She opened the doors to 4 Miles 2 Memphis right around the block from Antique Archaeology in LeClaire, Iowa on December 3, 2012. But it seems her shop, which features Danielle’s handmade clothes, printed t-shirts, and artwork as well as some of her own “picks” from flea markets and back yards around the country, had big city dreams because Danielle revealed in January that she was closing the doors and relocating it to Chicago!
From Danielle’s Facebook page on January 10:
Its official! We have a place now, a permenant place for 4 Miles 2 Memphis. Thank you to Foundre for letting us run our pop up shop in your beautiful place for the winter ♥ , We will be officially open for business by Feb1 2013 (but if we get all set up before that I will open the doors early;) CHEERS to Chicago and Broken Cherry! Cherry Pickin Row will be amazing, overflowing with flea markets and music festivals etc. Come on by and visit!
The announcement accompanied a link to a story about the store’s new location from DNAinfo.com in which Danielle talks about moving to the Windy City in a phone interview from LeClaire. “We’ve been trying to find a legit space in Chicago that works well for us for a long time,” Colby said.
And her shop won’t be alone because Danielle paired up with Remey Rozin, 38 (seen with Danielle in the photo above), owner of the Broken Cherry boutique to form what they call “Cherry Picker’s Row,” a double shot of unique merchandise with slightly different flavors. “Broken Cherry has a very rock ‘n’ roll style, and ours is very vintage, kind of like European Dust Bowl with a strong feel of Americana,” Danielle says. According to the site, “The two friends met in 2004 when Colby was living in Chicago and Rozin was involved in starting the Windy City Roller Derby league. (You can find out more about Danielle’s roller derby past here!)
American Pickers fans need not worry, though, because Danielle still plans to split time between Chicago and LeClaire. DNAinfo says she plans on spending 3-4 days a week at least in LeClaire or on the road filming, which is exactly what she’s doing right now, by the way, after Mike Wolfe reportedly injured himself. “Poor little mike has hurt his back again and is out for this leg of the pickin journey, which means I’m out on the road with Frank. Give our mikey some love And send good vibes his way ♥” Danielle revealed on Facebook on February 13.
But, back to the store! Danielle provided fans with another Facebook update on January 19, writing:
4Miles2Memphis now open in its permanent location!!! At 1734 west North Ave Chicago Illinois 60622. Right next to “Broken Cherry”. Stop on in today and say hi to Alex, Remey, and Nick! Mention this post and 20% off your entire purchase at 4Miles2Memphis and Broken Cherry!!! (for today only) [Please note that the sale no longer applies!]
Look for the Broken Cherry sign, as ours wont be hung for another week.
ROCK ON!!!
Eventually the 4 Miles 2 Memphis sign was hung, and it was well hung indeed 🙂 Danielle posted this next photo of it being installed on instagram along with the caption, “New sign day! Ron did an amazing job! #chicago #mykindoftown #bestcityever #brokencherry @brokencherry #antiques #americanpickers”
And speaking of Danielle posting photos to instagram, that is something she does A LOT (@danielle_colby_american_picker), including tons of photos of her new shop, which of course changes just about every day. Here are a bunch of photos of 4 Miles 2 Memphis and some of the unique items that are (or possibly were) for sale.
Oh, and here’s some appropriate background music while you shop:
Click to enlarge:
Be sure to stop in and check out all the awesome! Here’s the 411 on the shop:
4 Miles 2 Memphis
1734 W North ave Chicago IL 60622
Open Monday – Saturday 12pm-7pm
So with Danielle packing up her shop and moving to Chicago, at least part-time, what does that mean for her alter ego, the burlesque dancing Dannie Diesel? No need to fear folks, Danielle continues to shake that thang! From her Facebook:
Many of you folks have been asking about my next Burlesque show, It is at Double Door in Chicago illinois, March 1st, buy tix at www.doubledoor.com ,if you would like to get more info, please feel free to follow me here. PLEASE understand that this a BURLESQUE page! That means that if you suffer from insecurities, hate fun, or under 18 you may not want to even check it out. Just a forewarning…. However, if you love theatre, comedy, celebrate the human form in all of its perfect imperfection, are open minded, over 18, have a healthy self image, have very few sensual hangups and just love general jackassery, welcome home ♥
And for those of you (like me) who are huge fans of Danielle’s gracefully brutal and elegantly badass way of addressing the haters, you’ll love this next post, which accompanied a photo of her derriere from a recent performance. Keep in mind that this was on her Dannie Diesel fan page, not her Danielle Colby American Pickers fan page:
As a burlesque artist, my worst nightmare is seeing photos if myself while performing! I love the live fun but a photo captures a moment in time when I am far too busy wiggling my jiggly parts across that stage to worry about a momentary still shot. That being said, through these photos that cause me to gasp In horror at my cellulite, unapologetically gravity non resistant boobs or very generous derrière, those moments lend confidence to REAL women out there everywhere!!! So haters, please know that I fully understand what I look like nude, I fully appreciate my beauty and my booty. But most importantly, I don’t do this for you! I do this for every woman who has cried herself to sleep on her kitchen floor out of sheer self loathing. I wiggle this in celebration of your INNER beauty! I jiggle this as a huge “f**k you” to every person who belittles their fellow man or woman. And I shake this body vigarously for my daughter, so she understands that the human form is a fun and exciting temple, not a sinful Christian disgrace. For those of you who get it, I send you kisses of delight and those of you who don’t get it and are hateful cogs, I send you my “disgraceful”, generous ass, you may kiss that! Quit being creepers and get off my page if your delicate sensibilities are so offended, this is a BURLESQUE page! What did you expect?
There are rare moments I forget how attractive Danielle is (and of course I’m not just talking about physically), but thankfully they are few and far between — and usually the result of sleep. (Although even sleep is no guarantee!) 😉
Be sure to tune in to American Pickers Mondays at 9/8c on History!
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
