Local man opens ‘pop culture curiosity’ shop called “Whatever…Wilmington”

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) —  A New Hanover county man recently opened an oddities shop called “Whatever…Wilmington”.

As you can imagine, it is quite the unique store filled with a lot of history.

“I want them to walk and be a little bit amazed that the store even exists,” said Owner Kenyata Sullivan.

The Wilmington native has had a passion for the rare and the unusual since he was a kid.

After collecting items for more than 30 years, he has expanded his online shop to a store on Castle Street.

“Whatever…Wilmington is a pop culture curiosity shop where we are trying to find things you can’t find anywhere else and put it all in the same place,” Sullivan said

The store is filled from floor-to-ceiling with movie memorabilia and props, comics books, posters, vintage toys. He says nothing is too far from the imagination.

Sullivan said, “I wanted to build a store that never existed when I was growing up but I would loved to go into.”

“I have the robe that Dino DeLaurentiis’ wore from the movie “Dune” and he kept it,” said Sullivan” This came from his estate.”

He says some things you just can’t put a price tag on like this piece from the movie “Blue Velvet”.

“Just last week we were contacted by auction house out of New York wanting to put it in their March auction and we told them no,” Sullivan said. “We decided this is not for sale. This is part of Wilmington movie and television history and it’s much better for people to just come and see it.”

He says he also views the shop somewhat as a museum.

“People forget that this is not all about money” Sullivan said. “It’s about joy. You know it’s about enjoying culture and enjoying all of this stuff.”

He adds that he is always on a hunt for the next treasure.

“We are always looking for where there is only one,” Sullivan said. “There are so many ways to be delighted by the things in this room.”

Sullivan says he also has an online store with more than 46,000 items to buy.

He says he is looking for two baseball cards, a 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle and a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle.