Vintage furniture shop opens new location on Washington Avenue

WEDNESDAY, July 29 — Vintage Junkies, a locally owned one-stop shop for quirky vintage housewares, has relocated to a new brick-and-mortar location at 1133 S. Washington Ave. Owner Amy McMeeken called the new storefront a “dream,” and said moving her shop from its previous home in the REO Town Marketplace to its own standalone location will allow her to greatly expand her inventory.

“I’ve been growing a lot the last few years, especially with the furniture part of my business. I kept trying to rearrange my spot in the marketplace to accommodate my growth, but no matter what I needed more space,” McMeeken. “The storefront I moved into just happened to become available when my lease was ending. I jumped on it.”

The new location allows McMeeken to sell much larger pieces of furniture, such as dining room tables and sofa sets. McMeeken plans to stock wholesale items from independent artists across the country, and plans to work with local skilled craftspeople to sell their goods at Vintage Junkies as well. She also wants to use her wall space to host art galleries for local artists.

“I have lots of friends that do amazing work that I already have lined up to be featured,” McMeeken said.

While the pandemic has been highly challenging, McMeeken said she is “lucky” because she has a supportive online following and clientele base. “I did a lot of porch drop-offs and pickups; I knuckled down and made it work. It wasn’t a hardship for me thankfully,” she said.

The new Vintage Junkies location is open to the public with limited hours on Friday and Saturday. McMeeken requires customers to wear facemasks and practice social distancing. The store has several hand sanitizer stations and, if necessary, McMeeken said she provides curbside pickup and private shopping appointments.