Hopkins vintage home furnishing shop Retro Wanderlust is hosting its first-ever warehouse sale this weekend, and it’s a must-go for vintage lovers and interior design geeks alike. Boasting goods spanning the 1940s to the 1980s—and names include Saarinen, Dunbar, Harvey Probber, and Robsjohn-Gibbings—packed into an offsite, sprawling 6,000-square-foot warehouse, this sale means business.
Owner Karen Woyak is having the sale to help her clean out her packed storage facility. (“I’m ready for it to go—I don’t want to have to move it all back to storage,” she says.) Compared to shopping the store, she says to expect similar prices, but a lot more variety. For the DIYers out there, there are also items in need of some TLC (reupholstering and refinishing), priced to sell. The top on one dresser priced at $120 needs to be refinished, but a refinished version could be priced anywhere between $400 and $600 at another store, she says.
“The shape on that ottoman isn’t something you see everyday,” she says, gesturing to a pearl-colored, tufted piece that is rounded on both ends. “Somebody I follow on Instagram just reupholstered one like it and put it on One King’s Lane for $1,200 and it was gone by that afternoon,” she added.
Other finds of note include:
- A furniture set by Harvey Probber, an iconic American furniture designer who was credited with inventing sectional seating
- A mod-looking, chrome Milo Baughman etagere (needs glass)
- A pair of Robsjohn-Gibbings chairs, which she says typically sell for “thousands at auction”
- Lucite table bases and bars
- Eero Saarinen brass chairs and Danish wood chairs Dunbar couches (“First Dibs sellers will give me $3,000 for the right one, and they reupholster it and turn around and sell it for $10,000,” she says.)
- A ton of vintage clothing, priced to sell (many good-quality items priced at $12–$18)
She’ll be offering some discounting on Sunday to get stuff out the door, and expects the serious buyers to show up early on Friday morning; she’ll begin handing out tickets at 8 a.m. for the 10 a.m. opening. For a preview of some of the goods for sale, see images below and visit @retrowanderlust on Instagramn.
Sale hours: 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Fri., Nov. 13; 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Sat., Nov. 14, and 10 a.m.–4 p.m Sun., Nov. 15. 1415 5th St. S., Hopkins.
images by Jahna Peloquin & courtesy retro wanderlust
