The name “Rockin Rudy’s Attic” is literal—much of what’s in the shop has been waiting in the closed-to-the-public space above Rockin Rudy’s flagship location for decades.
But a more metaphorical name got tossed around before it was eventually vetoed: Elvis’ Butthole.
“Because you can find almost anything in there,” explains Bruce Micklus, the founder and owner of Rockin Rudy’s. (Elvis infamously suffered from severe constipation, among other health problems, at the end of his life.)
Shop manager and buyer Jayson Schultz drew up two potential logos for the name. One is Elvis with the classic bell-bottomed outfit striking the expected pose, except he has a butt for a face. That’s the “censored” version.
This spot at 910 S. Third St. W., opening March 1, has been in the making for months. The Attic had a previous iteration on South Avenue that Micklus, Schultz and their team closed after about a year in September 2023. That 600-square-foot space proved too small for this collection.
On a recent unseasonably warm day, Schultz peels the plastic from the new Attic’s windows (the wrong glass was installed and cracks snake across the windows, which will be replaced soon). They cast strong beams of sunshine across the store’s collection.
When I stroll in, Micklus, Schultz, general manager Amelia Regalado—who, full disclosure, sits on The Pulp’s board of directors—and jack-of-all-trades Molly Huffman all stand around a high shop table behind the register, opening a cardboard box labeled “Linda’s Grammy Jacket.” Micklus, sporting a gray ponytail, mustache and sporty sunglasses on his head, explains that winners of the esteemed music industry award used to receive a leather jacket. That was probably 50 years ago, which is the approximate age of many items that populate the Attic.
The space is laid out not dissimilarly to the primary Rockin Rudy’s store in the old Eddy’s Bakery building on Blaine Street: shelves of unexpected goodies—from the charming to the lewd—lead shoppers further into a labyrinth of wonder, encased by walls covered in posters and rafters hung with pennants, all tetris-ed together so carefully that it would be a tough job to add so much as an extra postcard.
The Attic joins another Rockin Rudy’s offshoot, Record Heaven, located in a Quonset hut facing the railroad tracks at 845 Ronan St.
The Attic’s building required quite a bit of a remodel to prepare for the arrival of the attic goods. I was curious about what it had housed before this team’s arrival.
“Funny you ask,” says Schultz, who strides over to the register and locates a sticky note with a lengthy list of exactly that.
At various times, the space had been an auto shop, a grow house, an ice house, a battery store, a factory for making deep sea scuba diving sensors and a hardware store.
The Attic isn’t a hipster department store. It’s a collector’s dream house. Think fewer candies, incense and soaps, and more objects that may strike a nostalgic or even emotional chord—for different generations. For example, a Beatles section features modern action figures of each band member, as well as a “Flip Your Wig” board game that Schultz dates to 1967.
The funny thing about collecting is that a characteristic that adds value to one object may very well diminish it for another. Items from the music and film industries gain value with age and sustained mint condition. But sports items, like a pair of boxing gloves for example (the Attic has a pair signed by Muhammad Ali), are more valuable because they’ve been used.
Schultz recently sold a sealed VHS copy of “Nightmare on Elm Street” online for $3,200. So that one’s not in the corner dedicated to VHS tapes.
But a series of simple dual-colored flags with baseball team names on them hangs from lines criss-crossing the wooden rafters. The flags are frayed and tattered, but, in this case, that adds value. These are from the collection that flapped above Chicago’s Wrigley Field. The stadium was late to hosting night games due to a controversy over installing electric lights above the field, which didn’t happen until 1988.
Nearby those flags in the Attic are old-school pennants, including some from the University of Montana and one featuring a cartoon long-horned bull with steam blowing out its nostrils and the slogan “I HAD A BALL!” The pennant is from the Testicle Festival, hosted at the Rock Creek Lodge in Clinton for 35 years until the plug was pulled in 2018 due to “social media, lawsuits and general liability concerns,” as the venue’s owner said at the time.
Some things in the Attic are not as they seem (a deck of Pokémon cards, upon closer evaluation, proves to be a mash-up of characters from “The Simpsons” with Pokémon bodies), and everything has a story (the kayak-sized banana hanging from the ceiling was part of a costume Huffman made for a New Year’s Eve party).
But the mainstay is music. Micklus has been in the business for 50 years, starting with a nearly decade-long stint in the ’70s: a shop he owned in Bend, Oregon, called the Great American Record and Plant Company.
Eventually, Micklus packed up a couple of U-Hauls full of records and relocated to Missoula.
Throughout the years, “I have never thrown away a single item,” Micklus says. Accordingly, he has a lot of memorabilia kicking around. Back when record companies were still a thing, they would send promotional materials to shops ahead of a new album drop or a band’s tour. Promotional materials weren’t designed to be sold. But during their decades-long hibernation in the attic, those snail-mail freebies have accrued some value.
He estimates there’s about 30,000 promotional posters in the store.
But not everything is for sale. I ask Micklus if there are any items he hesitated to put on the shelf and sell.
“Almost everything,” he says, which elicits a round of laughs from his crew. “It’s bitter, bitter, bittersweet.”
But Micklus calls the process of “un-piling” stuff a “discovery.”
While the store will certainly delight niche collectors, there’s plenty for just-curious Missoulians, too.
A large wall near the entrance is covered in works by artist Jay Rummell, who made what he described as “visual folk songs” in Missoula until his death in 1998. The pieces surround a small, framed black-and-white photo of two men in pearl snap shirts counting cash across a bar: It’s Rummell with Missoula poet David Thomas, drinking beers “at Charlie B’s probably,” Micklus says.
Some of the store’s 30,000 music posters are for shows that happened here in Missoula—some are rare because of their age and some for other reasons. For example, a run of posters for a Ween show were never distributed because the pandemic forced the band to cancel, Schultz says. But that means, of course, the Attic has an exclusive stash in unused condition.
Schultz says Micklus gave him plenty of freedom over designing the Attic space. The pair take turns leading me through the store, bringing my attention to various shelves and chattering excitedly about their contents. Though they’ve only known each other a few years, it’s clear their respective noses for collectibles are tuned to the same scent. Another area of commonality? They both grew up in Palo Alto. They even went to neighboring high schools, though a few decades apart.
Micklus and Schultz work well together. And they seem driven by the same motives: connection, collective memory and the knowing chuckle. They’re even finishing each other’s sentences.
“It’s just fun to talk with people,” Micklus says. “And you can tell Jayson likes talking. He’ll be perfect.”
Schultz: “I love people’s stories too.”
Micklus: “Yeah. Exactly.”
Schultz: “You get so many stor–.”
Micklus: “And everybody’s got a story.”
Schultz: “Everyone.”
In addition to the store, Micklus and Schultz sell and trade frequently online. They’re tapped into the network of collectors around the country and the world. But as far as they can tell, Rockin Rudy’s is one of a kind.
“I think a lot of music stores pigeonholed themselves into just selling music,” Schultz says. “Whereas Rockin Rudy’s is totally different. It’s expanded to so many things. And I think the difference is the vision started with a person who could multitask and see a lot of things.”
Now you can see those things, too. The Attic will have its grand reopening on Friday, March 1, from 5 to 8 p.m. Regular hours will be Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
