3.28.2012

Thrifting in Baltimore: Cheap, Unique and Always an Adventure

I am excited to share some of my favorite thrift and second-hand shops with you today. I realize not everyone is into wearing used clothes (for the record: I absolutely am), but when it comes to furniture and décor for the home, buying used is so much more economical—and unique. I love all things historic and can’t turn down a bargain, so I end up getting almost all of my furniture, clothes, and other home goods in thrift stores (or by helping friends move out and receiving their left-behind stuff). You’ll notice through my photos that both Tim & I love vintage Americana, maps and flags—luckily for us, there’s a lot of this stuff to be found at thrift stores!

My advice when thrifting is to take your time. It’s a real adventure to pick through random assortments of all kinds of stuff—you never know what you might find! I prefer to go on rainy days when I have nowhere to be. Here are a few of my favorite places to shop second-hand. There are many, many more out there but these are my usual haunts. Some of these places don’t have websites, so here’s a map to help you find them:


Thrift stores
Value Village on York Road (Govans): Although almost all of these shops are hit-or-miss, I pretty much always find a gem at this Value Village. I have found a lot of professional clothes here, as well as some awesome cowboy boots, this USA Olympics sheet set (who is excited for the Olympics this year?!), and this creepy little figurine. The store is not extremely large, so it’s easy to stumble upon the good stuff. My favorite find from this store is this cartographic-themed dish set (now our “fancy” dishes)—we had these out at a party and some friends of ours told us they had donated the set to Value Village! Oh, Smalltimore.


Village Thrift on North Avenue: I can imagine this is a favorite shopping destination for MICA students considering its proximity to campus. Both the clientele and the inventory vary widely. They have a sizeable home goods department that covers the entire front and back of the store. When I was there last week I found this Brownie camera from the ‘50s (unfortunately, the film isn’t made anymore so I can’t really use it) for $7; we also got a set of six bicentennial glasses (hard to photograph) there. Check out the Village Thrift on Sundays or Mondays when everything is ½ price!


 

Village Economy (Essex): I consider this to be the granddaddy of all thrift stores. This place is a sure bet because it is HUGE, although Essex is quite far from the city and nearly impossible to get to without a car. They stock pretty much anything you could ever imagine here. I recall their kitchen section was quite well-supplied, and I’ve found some cool ladies’ clothes there as well. I’ve heard this is a good spot for costumes and crazy get-ups that you’ll only wear once…

Brooklyn Park Thrift Store: The reputation of this store, located just over the line in Anne Arundel County, had built up pretty high expectations in my head and I was a bit disappointed when I finally went. Like the Essex store, the large size means that there is a considerable selection from which to choose. This is supposedly one of the area’s best, so it’s definitely worth a visit for the second-hand connoisseur. 


GBMC Nearly New Sale: The sprawling hospital complex in Towson hosts a volunteer-run rummage sale each fall and spring. The selection and prices totally depend on which day you go (earlier = more selection, higher prices; later = more picked over but insanely cheap prices), so be sure to weigh your priorities when determining when to go. In addition to tons of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, they sell games, athletic equipment, dishes, stationery, electronics, artwork, holiday decorations and other random stuff. We have gotten a lot of use out of this USA Trivia game that I bought for $1!


Value Village on Eastern Avenue (Highlandtown): This surprisingly large store on Eastern Avenue could provide hours of entertainment, browsing their aisles upon aisles of clothes. We ended up getting a handsome little side table there for a reasonable price—it’s cheap enough that if I decide to paint it some bright color, I won’t feel bad if it turns out horribly.

Goodwill on Greenmount (Waverly): I’m not in love with this small-ish Goodwill store, but I have donated tons of stuff here when moving and know people that have found interesting things here. Plus, it’s close to the Baltimore Book Thing and Pete’s Grille!

Goodwill in Fells Point: Like the Waverly location, this store is too small to find a whole lot of interesting items. However, it’s always worth popping in for a visit when strolling the neighborhood.

Salvation Army on Joppa Road (Towson): I haven’t been here in a while, but this was a popular destination when I went to Goucher. Their selection is quite large and I believe their furniture is usually of high quality.

Antique stores
Second Chance: This nonprofit salvages usable materials and provides green-collar job training for “those with employment obstacles”. They sell the reclaimed building supplies and furnishings in their 200,000 square foot retail space, making it a financially viable operation. They truly provide a second chance both for the salvaged furniture and home wares as well as the employees in their workplace development program. I have yet to visit the new consolidated warehouse just off Russell Street, but I would encourage anyone looking for high-quality, previously owned furniture to visit Second Chance. Second Chance does not sell at thrift store prices but there is a wide range of options. We got this Singer sewing machine-turned-butcher block for $100 and I love it!


HouseWerks at Bayard Station: This is another seriously amazing place to visit—an architectural salvage yard housed in an historic railroad station. I would say they cater to the rusted-industrial-chic designer’s aesthetic. Plan to spend a few hours poking around the iron gates, school desks, giant box of plastic letters, and 100+ pieces of a religious mosaic in the yard. I didn’t see any marked prices, but I have a feeling most of these curated objects are quite pricey. I would suggest going to feast your eyes and imagination, not to buy anything specific.





 David’s on the Avenue (Hampden): I have been in here a number of times without finding anything of interest at all, but the last time I went I saw an amazing mint green ‘60s kitchen cabinet, lots of well-priced living room furniture in great condition and tons of vintage maps and flags. I bought 12 maps at $.50 each and popped a few in embroidery hoops for very cheap, fast homemade wall art. We are planning to get a real couch (the cheapo IKEA futon we got off Craigslist two years ago just isn’t cutting it anymore) in the near future and David’s is going to be one of the first places we look.


Vanessa’s Vintage Treasures (Federal Hill): Vanessa herself greeted me in this little storefront in the shadow of Cross Street Market. She made conversation as I browsed her mountains of vintage costume jewelry, plates, textiles, and stationery—and offered me a nice discount for buying a number of items together. The shop might appeal to a more feminine crowd, but I would recommend it to anyone looking for some nostalgia in Federal Hill.

Avenue Antiques (Hampden): It’s possible I like this place so much simply because I live near it, but I almost always find something interesting at Avenue Antiques. They have three entire floors stocked by various antique dealers with wares ranging from pianos to ‘80s dresses to needlework to campaign memorabilia. I have bought some used but not antique items here (including a purse and a skirt) and always enjoy perusing their vintage postcard collection. Hampden is a treasure trove for antique seekers, with Millbrook Antiques (tons of postcards and paper goods), the Turnover Shop (furniture), Hampden Junque (kitschy memorabilia), Sturgis Antiques (variety), and some other more upscale furniture shops along the Avenue. Of course, Woodward’s Auction House used to be located right next to Avenue Antiques but has recently moved to East Baltimore. ­­­

DeBois Textile Co.: I don’t really understand what all they sell at DeBois Textile Co., but I went after seeing their ad in City Paper for years and was slightly confused. The front room of their Pigtown warehouse has upscale (and expensive) vintage clothes and wholesale textiles. The rest of the 65,000 square foot space contains giant cardboard boxes of loosely categorized used (not vintage) clothes and a loading/unloading/work zone. I left empty-handed but perhaps you will find something exciting in this curious establishment.

A final note: my dear friend Krystal—a Baltimore native—runs a really unique online home décor shop called Esther & Harper and blogs about it too. If you are looking for some vintage inspiration for your day, check out Krystal’s interesting collection!

No comments: