It’s like an antique store met an I Spy book, and the two settled down in Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium.
The shelves of the Pegasus Creative Reuse are so stuffed with colorful goodies of every medium — paint, fabric, paper and more — that finding a specific item is a treasure hunt.
“I think we’ve quickly outgrown the space. So it’s been a challenge to try to keep things in that happy medium between it being like a fun adventure and then also navigable,” co-founder Ernie Diaz Jr. says.
“Dallas favorite art supply thrift store,” Pegasus opened in Tyler Station in August. The store sells art supplies donated by the community for less than half of what a product would cost at a big box store.
Diaz and his partner, Dorothy Villarreal, share a passion for community and creativity. While they both work in tech, they also have artistic sides. In her free time, Villarreal enjoys quilting, embroidery, knitting and watercolor painting. Diaz has a penchant for collages and stationery.
Villarreal became interested in creative reuse stores because of her inherited desire to reduce waste and encourage thriftiness. She was raised by her grandmother, who was raised during the Mexican Great Depression, so “it’s in (her) blood” to hold on to things “a little bit longer than (she) should.”
When Villarreal moved to Dallas, she was stunned to discover that the closest creative reuse store was in Denton.
“They are quite common along the east coast and west coast,” Villarreal says. “It was just kind of something always in the back of my mind that I thought we’d get to do when we retired.”
But on a drive back to Dallas from Shreveport, Louisiana, the couple decided there was no reason to wait. For the three months following that “why not” conversation, Villarreal and Diaz nailed down a storefront in Tyler Station, came up with a name for the shop and started collecting donations from the community.
“Every morning and evening we were going to do porch pickups. Like our cars were full, our house was full,” Diaz says. “It was just an overwhelming amount of support and donations.”
The store has totaled over 500 pounds of donated craft supplies since opening. The “insane amount” is now being given a second life on the Pegasus shelves while also being diverted from landfills.
Pricing at Pegasus is an imperfect science, but Villarreal has a “good sense” of what things usually cost at big box stores from her days as a “crafting aficionado.”
And, she says it isn’t uncommon for items to be priced at even more of a discount in special circumstances. When one mother was buying paint brushes for a children’s painting party, for instance, she charged the brushes as a bundle instead of individually.
Villarreal believes the price of craft supplies can be a barrier to entry, and that many people are hesitant to try new things, or invest in quality supplies, when they are accompanied by an overwhelming price tag.
“The number one thing we hear at the counter is ‘That’s it?’” Diaz says. “Sometimes there’ll be people who are like, ‘You know you can charge me way more for this,’ or ‘This (supply) is super rare,’ but that’s not the point, it’s about getting these materials into people’s hands.”
Pegasus Creative Reuse also offers craft classes each month. The classes average around $35 a person, and include all the supplies needed.
In a time when many students no longer take home economics and art classes are not as emphasized as sports or STEM, the classes are an opportunity for anyone — but especially young people — to build their relationship with their inner creativity.
“When times get scary as they are now, you look for places where you can find community and you look for places where you feel like you’re doing good,” Villarreal says. “And this one combines both of those.”
