I just returned from a week spent roaming the sunny Southern California desert with my family. Smack in the middle of our vacation, while careening down sun-bleached Twentynine Palms Highway toward Joshua Tree, I forced my husband to pull over at a cinder block building painted in a flurry of pastel colors and Southwest-y triangles and motifs.

Finally, I’d reached The End. The remotely located shop—created by Kime Buzzelli, a Hollywood costumer and visual artist who founded seminal Echo Park–boutique Show Pony (now defunct)—houses one of the most eclectic collections of jewelry and fashion on the planet.

Inside The End

Necklace by fiber artist Seth Damm for Neon Zinn 

We talk a lot at JCK about retailers needing to create experiences that delight consumers. The End does this in spades.

First off, it doesn’t overreach—it’s a niche shop, through and through. The shop’s siren call is clear and resolute: Desert hippies, mystics, and, well, Coachella-goers, come hither.

Crystal necklaces by desert artist Adina Mills

Racks of new and vintage kimonos, fabric-dyed ponchos, and dressy finery on racks line the multiroom space, which unfolds like a complicated piece of origami. Your eye is pulled to interesting vignettes, such as fabric-wrapped necklaces hung next to black-and-white embroideries, and rings with hunks of crystal perched on a table covered in candles and gnarled bits of driftwood.

Like the fashion in the shop, The End’s jewelry selection is a mash-up of vintage and new and spotlights local artists.

Jumbo biker-cum-hippie, vintage sterling silver bracelets, pendants, and rings give way to multicolored beaded necklaces anchoring tangles of stones, crystals, and leather elements.

Handmade crowns of chunky amethyst, quartz, and other crystals sit next to a huge vintage brass cuff depicting a fox’s face—on a table positioned over stacks of black tees emblazoned with the phrase “Other Desert Cities.”

Beaded pendant necklaces

It’s an anything-goes environment, filled with an array of jewelry and fashion you’ve literally never laid eyes on before—not on Instagram, not anywhere.

All of which makes The End feel, at least in terms of retailing, like something of a beginning.

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