Recap: The Vintage Bazaar

Well — if you can tell anything from the line out the door — we succeeded! (BTW, I stole this photo from Study — thanks!)

Libby and I didn’t anticipate, but were able to scramble to manage, the massive turnout we had for The Vintage Bazaar yesterday. Close to 3000 people (by DANK’s eyeball estimate) packed into the fifth floor Marunde Grande Ballroom at the DANK Haus to check out what all the amazing vendors had to offer.

Not only were we floored by the shopper turnout, we were totally amazed at all the fantastic stuff the vendors brought to showcase. I mean, seriously: Manly Vintage set up Super Mario Brothers on a vintage TV in their booth. And throughout the day shoppers were leaving with large furniture purchases and full shopping bags down the elevators. Amazing.

The food was good, the beer was good, the times were good. Even the pressing hordes were friendly (and we’re dealing with the crowd issue for next time, promise).

Thanks for coming out — hope you found something you liked.

Store Profile: Assyrian and Society of
America Thrift Store

Nothing like a little junk store popping up on the corner just a few blocks away from your house.  The Assyrian and Society of America Thrift Store is one of those tiny corner thrift stores with an ambiguous name, no hours posted, and a totally random assortment of plastic Burger King cups and promotional zip-up fleeces that you just know, know one day will part to yield a set of Herman Miller shell chairs in perfect condition priced at $5 each.

But right now it’s pretty much a bunch of junk.

But totally worth checking out.

Corner of Kedzie and Sunnyside in Albany Park.

Vintage Bazaar UPDATE

(Photo by Kirk Bravender.)

Prepare yourselves!  It is coming.  TVB.

Libby and I have been hard at work planning all the logistics for the very first Vintage Bazaar at the DANK Haus, Feb. 27.

We have a complete list of vendors we’re super excited about. Looks like it’s going to be a packed day of shopping. Plus tamales, cupcakes, and awesome tunes (can I say tunage?).

So mark your calendars for some urban flea market shopping.  Noon to 5pm.  It’s only 15 days away!

Click the postcard to friend the Facebook event and tell it you’re coming!:

Need Furniture? 4 Thrift Stores to Visit

I just got this email from a reader:

I’m a fairly new follower to your blog, and a very new thrift store junkie…  so I’m hoping you can help me out! While my house is currently full of “affordable” Ikea, I’m starting to look for pieces with a little more love and a lot more character. Right now, I’m in desperate need of a pair of (matching) nightstands, and I’m hoping I can find something that I could potentially paint and turn into little statement pieces for my bedroom. Problem is – I’m in Oak Park, and the stores out here just don’t have much. We have a (small) Brown Elephant that I’ve been checking constantly, and a Goodwill that has a teeny overpriced furniture section. Can you recommend any stores in the city with big furniture selections that I can check out this weekend?

Why, yes. Yes I can.

I understand the desperate search for the right furniture piece at the right price. It’s frustrating to try and drive all over the city looking for the just right piece of furniture on the second hand market. It’s so much easier to go to a one-stop shop like Ikea, but where’s the character in that?

Whenever someone asks me for a one-stop furniture recommendation in the Chicago thrift store scene, I recommend these places:

Jubilee Furniture – a literal warehouse of used furniture that’s only open two days a week and is located in Carol Stream. Limited hours, long drive — but highly, highly recommended. They even recently started a blog!

610 E. North Ave., Carol Stream, IL 60188

See my Flickr set from Jubilee here.

St. Vinny’s Thrift Store — Milwaukee – It’s time we all realized Milwaukee is just a far north suburb of Chicago — at least where your thrifting is concerned. I’ve sent countless people up to Badger country to find furniture at this mother of all thrift stores and they’ve all agreed: worth the drive.

2320 W Lincoln Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53215

See my Flickr set from St. Vincent DePaul in Milwaukee here.

Urban Thrift – whine all you want, The Ark on Lincoln is no longer. Urban Thrift has taken its place. But this means this mothership of a  Lakeview thrift store is now open on Saturdays. And if you saw my recent Tweet about the vintage metal lockers I found while shopping there last, you’ll agree that you can find some pretty sweet furniture deals here.

3345 N Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60657

See my Flickr photo set from Urban Thrift here.

Stop! Look! isn’t a massive thrift store but it’s a decent bet you can find a good plant stand, bench, end table, stool set or side chair here if you stop by frequently enough. It’s centrally located on Western Ave. in Ukrainian Village, too, so it’s easy to — um — Stop! Look!

1307 N Western Ave., Chicago, IL 60622

See my set of Flickr photos from Stop! Look! here.

Those aren’t all the stores in the city where you can find a decent selection of furniture second-hand. I think both the Oak Park and Andersonville Brown Elephants have a fair amount of decent furniture and fast turnover, although they’re heftily priced. And I’ve seen interesting pieces pop up at the South Kedzie Unique and the Unique on Sheridan (my personal favorite).

To hit up a number of thrift stores in one day, check out my handy driving map.

Last bit of advice: don’t overlook estate sales as an awesome place to find furniture. Visit EstateSales.net to browse through photos of current estate sales or sign up for my weekly BackGarage Garage Sale Hotlist to get tips on the best bets for finding furniture and more every weekend in Chicago.