Run Wilde

Demolition of Houston's cult favorite oddities shop ends hopes of reopening

A look at Wilde Collection before the arson.

Photo by Jef Rouner

The site of Houston’s first and only full-service oddities and curiosity store, the Wilde Collection, was razed to the ground this week.

The lot at 1444 Yale in the Heights had heavy equipment on-site earlier this week, and the building was torn down completely by Wednesday, October 23. This is the final nail in the coffin for the Wilde Collection, and little is known about what will take its place.

The Wilde Collection opened in 2015 and was immediately the talk of Houston. Founded by Lawyer Douglas and Tyler Zottarelle, it housed medical oddities, large fauna taxidermy, Victorian mourning jewelry, and original art by Douglas. Spooky and elegant, it hosted events like art shows based on children’s nightmares and pictures with Krampus rather than Santa Clause.

That ended on November 1, 2019 when local musician Jonathan Jindra set fire to the building during business hours. Luckily, no people were harmed, though several pets and animal specimens in the building perished, including Douglas’s cat. Jindra, the ex-boyfriend of an employee, claimed the building housed evil spirits and made public anti-LGBT remarks directed at Douglas. Jindra was convicted of arson and is currently serving a 15 year prison sentence.

At first, it looked like Wilde Collection would rise from the ashes. A GoFundMe campaign raised more than $60,000. Unfortunately, the unique nature of most of the items ruined by the fire meant that replacing them was difficult and their worth hard to account for insurance purposes.

Douglas eventually abandoned dreams of rebuilding and moved to Navasota. There, he operates a haunted bed and breakfast called RavenWolf Manor that embodies the spirit of the Wilde Collection.

The ownership of the site is a bit of a mystery. Zottarelle declined to say what the current legal status was in April. County records show that the lot was bought in October 2023 from Zottarelle by the SJG Croup LLC, a company with no website or phone number whose address is a house in West University. It has no relation to the similarly named investment group associated with Morgan Stanley. Attempts to contact SJG by mail went unanswered.

Since the loss of the Wilde Collection, numerous oddities-themed stores and events have spring up, including night markets at Numbers Nightclub and the National Museum of Funeral History, as well as shops like Thorn and Moon that carry work by artists who use biological specimens. However, the Wilde Collection itself was one of a kind, and now it’s just another lot for sale in the rapidly growing Heights.

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dream a little dream

New Houston business crafts classes, coffee, and community in Montrose

Courtesy of Little Dreamer Creative

Kelley Eggert is puting the finishing touches on Little Dreamer Creative

The man behind a string of successful Houston coffee shops and a veteran art teacher are teaming up on a new business that’s designed to get people away from their screens and working with their hands. Called Little Dreamer Creative, the new business will celebrate its grand opening this weekend on Saturday, September 5 from 6-9 pm, and Sunday, September 6 from 10 am-2 pm (1004 Taft St.).

The two-day celebration reflects the wide range of experiences Little Dreamer Creative intends to provide. Saturday night will feature live music, food, and a vendor market, while Sunday’s events include art activities and a market of local artists. Participating vendors include Zozo Fresh, Earth.Oils, Alchemist, Little Dreamer Coffee, Chilesquiles, Tucker Family Fungi, Award Winning Farm, and Amaize Artisanal Flatbreads.

Art teacher Kelley Eggert and coffee veteran Matt Toomey founded Little Dreamer to serve a range of needs. Having recently left her role as a ceramics professor at Lone Star College, Eggert will teach art classes for both kids and adults. Toomey, who’s shed his managerial responsibilities at Little Dreamer Coffee to focus on this new venture, will use the space to launch a number of new brands, including Third Eye Yoga and Nothing But Flowers, a new beverage concept related to teas and other drinks made with flowering plants.

“I love teaching. That is my calling is to be a teacher. It's literally in my astrology,” Eggert says. “But I don't want to teach for academia. I want to teach for the beauty of using art to heal, to meditate, to break away from phones and computers and all of that.”

Unlike a maker space that has tools and other heavy equipment, Little Dreamer Creative’s classes will be more project based. People could come in for three hours on a Sunday, for example, or for six hours spread over three weeks.

“[Little Dreamer] is more about art and human expression, you know, how that is a fulfillment of the desire of humanity — to express yourself with something creative and beautiful, and if it's not beautiful, who cares? You're not really attached to the outcome of it. You're just doing it for the sake of it,” Toomey explains.

In addition, Little Dreamer Creative will sell coffee, tea, and other drinks. While it doesn’t have a kitchen, it will offer items prepared nearby at Little Dreamer Coffee, the shop Toomey founded in 2025. In addition, Toomey is working pastry chef Alyssa Dole (Coltivare, Pinkerton’s Barbecue, LuLoo’s Day & Night) to develop sweet and savory baked goods and other pastries.

At night on the weekends, Little Dreamer Creative intends to host live events such as concerts, comedy shows, and movie screenings. While it doesn’t have a liquor license, Toomey is developing mixers that will allow visitors to bring-their-own spirits to make cocktails.

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