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!
