Vintage Wares 2022

FROM VALLEY VINTAGE SHOPS TO NYC

UW-STOUT STUDENT HITS CAREER MILESTONES BEFORE GRADUATION

words by Ma Vue • photos by Amy Diep

Even before graduat ing from UW-Stout, Kalia Moua had already hit career milestones many pursuing fashion only dream of – including a col laboration with global fashion and lifestyle-retailer, SHEIN.

Moua’s brand, Sayndo, launched with SHEIN to resound ing success in March 2021, with pieces selling out in the first week. She was able to turn this oppor tunity into an internship that was later made available to her class mates. She has designed pieces with SHEIN for three seasons now, but has her sights set on more.

Moua finds beauty in the weathered and worn – drawing inspiration from thrifted vin tage pieces and her late father. Growing up a block from Hope Gospel Bargain Center in Eau Claire bolstered Moua’s love for fashion design. She frequented the establishment as a young girl, collecting vintage glassware and china sets. She eventually

found herself rummag ing through clothes racks for oneof-a-kind pieces and altering them to fit her vision.

“I’ve been thrifting since I was five,” Moua said. “I hated when people were like, ‘Why do you thrift? That’s so weird,’ but I’m like, you guys are missing out because I find gold all the time.”

When asked about her favorite places to thrift, Moua enthusiasti cally listed Seven Suns Vintage, Good and Sturdy Vintage, and Hope Gospel Bargain Center as her go-to places, but she still stands firm that there are treasures to be found every where. Recently, her eye for fashion and thrifting landed her a remote internship with American Eagle

Outfitters, where she

was tasked with sourcing locally thrifted apparel for their design head quarters in New York. Originally, Moua had wanted to attend fashion school in Los Angeles after high school, but put those plans on hold as she maneuvered the many cur veballs life threw her way. The passing of her father was the catalyst that reig nited her dreams of pursuing fashion design.

She credits her father’s creative spirit and support of her art as the driving force behind why she continues to do what she does today. Subsequently, her brand, Sayndo, pays homage to her father, who told her, “Do what you say and say what you do.”

Moua gradu ated last spring and has accepted a design position with American

Eagle Outfitters. She will be relo cating to New York this summer, where she hopes to further grow and hone her skills. Finding sta bility and success in the fashion industry are her ultimate goals, whether it is as a technical design er for a household brand or grow ing her own brand years down the line. She is keenly aware that the fashion industry is the second-larg est polluter in the world and wants to do her part in addressing the issue as a designer – starting with her closet full of thrift ed pieces.

Check out her current collection with SHEIN online, us.shein.com, or follow her on Instagram, @_sayndo.

ATTIC ADDICT

ONE OF WISCONSIN’S LARGEST CONSIGNMENT STORES, THE ATTIC HAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE words and photos by McKenna Scherer

Megan Glassbrenner never thought she’d end up living in the Chippewa Valley again, but to be fair, she never thought she’d own a nearly 10,000-square-foot consignment store, either.

First opening towards the end of 2014 in a not-quite-1,000-square-foot space on Hastings Way, not far from their current location on Fairfax Street in Eau Claire, Attic owners John and Megan Glassbrenner were taking on more than opening a small business that year.

Though the duo is from the area

– Megan growing up on a farm in Mondovi and John in Altoona – they each ventured elsewhere in their younger adult years. Megan, with a love of antiquing and thrifting already, and John, with a passion for real estate, didn’t plan on becoming small business owners, nor doing so right after having their first child.

“We had just had our first kid and were looking for furniture for his room, and we had (looked at) Hope Gospel and Goodwill, and we weren’t findings things, and we didn’t have a lot of money,” Megan said. “We were like, ‘Why, for the size of Eau Claire, doesn’t it have

a nice consignment furniture/home goods store?’ ”

As Megan and John were clean ing out John’s mother’s storage unit, it just hit them, Megan said. Her mother-in-law, as she described, is the type of person to switch up her style every handful of years, so she easily filled the unit with items that were still on-trend and in fantastic condition. “Again, it was a situation where we thought, ‘This would be really great if we had a consignment place to go with these things.’ We were like, ‘Let’s just do it.’ ”

The duo’s new biz outgrew its original space in less than a year,

and since then, they have filled up their new space – and with a unique twist.

Unlike other consignment and thrift shops in the area, The Attic is mostly composed of vendors and their booths, making for a constant ly-changing and unique array of curated items for sale.

“We started with maybe about 20 (vendors), then the other two-thirds of the store was always consignment. After 2020, we ended up doing a flipflop,” Megan explained. “Right now, it’s a little over 50 (vendors) and our goal is to get up to almost 70.”

Offering a month-to-month con

tract, vendors pay for their booths by the square foot and provide their own shelving and display, while The Attic provides the price tags and printing materials, the costs of credit card processing, and offers online advertising as well. The price for physical booth space is $4 per square foot.

“Typically, if (vendors) aren’t making three to five times their rent, we’re like, ‘something needs to change’ –maybe customers aren’t grabbing what they’re putting out, the style or price point is off, things like that, but there are ways we can tweak it to make sure they’re sell ing,” Megan said.

Popular items at The Attic are basically anything and everything

vintage, but specifically vintage home goods and decor sell well, such as medium-sized furniture pieces, vintage glassware, and older oil paintings, Megan said.

As for her own antiquing and thrifting? Megan doesn’t get out to dig for treasure herself as much anymore but said having vendors and consignment come in frequent ly makes up for it.

“People bring so many beauti ful things in all the time, I don’t ever feel too bad about not getting out myself (to antique). But, I still love it so much,” she said.

Some of the vendors have con tinued to work out of The Attic for several years, Megan said, including some nearly from the

very beginning. In fact, one of their vendors – Red Dog Vintage Collectibles by Christine Theisen – just recently began working as the new social media head at The Attic. Others include local entrepreneur Sand Harder and Old Soul EC, run by Beth Vrablic, who sells all things that evoke warm, nostalgic feelings, plus kitschy and oddball items.

The Attic • 2015 Fairfax St., Eau Claire • Hours: Monday 12-5pm, Tuesday-Friday 10am-6pm, and Saturday 10am-5pm • theatticec.com or @theatticec on Facebook

Chippewa

next great

take a look at these cool places...

1. Colfax Antique Mall 603 Main Street, Colfax • (715) 704-6086 A diverse group of antique dealers, artists, and consignment vendors. The selection is often changing. If they don't have what you're looking for, they can help you find it.

2. Town and Country Antiques 244 Main St. E, Menom onie • (715) 231-3222 • lchase@wwt.net An entertaining and ever changing multi-dealer shop with 25 dealers offering a wide variety of treasures and antiques in historic downtown Menomonie. Down the street you'll find a second location; a music store that features vinyl, refurbished stereos, consoles, turntables, musical instruments, and accessories.

3. Collective Souls 305 Main St. East, Menomonie • facebook.com/Collectivesouls305/ Collective Souls (formerly Crimson Skies) offers unique restyled, refinished and re-loved furniture and handcrafted décor by local artists for your home.

4. Triangle Art and Antiques 335 Main St E, Menomonie • (715) 953-4242 • triangle.antiques@gmail.com • Find it on Facebook The Triangle Building (built in 1906) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and features experi enced dealers and beautiful art and antiques.

5. Stargazers Variety, Antique, and Consignment 217 W. Main St, Durand • facebook.com/stargazersvariety Woman-owned variety, consignment, upcycled, vintage, antique, and craft store. New Items every week. Check social media for schedule updates.

6. St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop 825 E Prospect St., Durand • facebook.com/StVincentDePaulThriftStore The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a Catholic charity organiza tion. They hold several 50% off special sales during the year (check their Facebook for dates). They accept donations of new or gently used items during open business hours. They will pick up furniture by appointment.

7. Northwoods Antiques, Collectibles, and Oddities 13803 West 7th Street, Osseo • northwoods-antiques-collect ibles-and-oddities.business.site A simple, no nonsense antique, vintage, oddity, and curio shop in Osseo.

8. The Osseo Nickel Barn & Coffee Shop 50525 Oak Grove Drive, Osseo • theosseonickel.com Coffee shop (with drive thru) with antique and vintage treasures shop.

9. Olde Creamery Antiques & Refinishing 35408 Greene St, Independence • (715) 985-2503 • Find it on Facebook Two floors complete with furniture, glassware, stoneware, tools, and jewelry. Also offering complete refinishing and repairing of new and old furniture, canning and trunk repair, plus much more.

10. The Market Place of Stanley 613 S Broadway St, Stanley • (715) 644-1015 • Find it on Facebook Featuring antiques, collectables, vintage items, jewelry, furniture, wood creations, ceramics, hand-crafted items, home decor, metal art, and more.

11. Collective Charm - Antiques, Lighting, Furniture 16 W Columbia St, Chippewa Falls • collectivecharmantiques.com

Located in the heart of historic downtown Chippewa Falls, this antique store proudly serves creative collectors and curious shoppers. Featuring antique, vintage, restored lighting, upcycled goods, and restored treasures. Offers antique lighting restoration services.

15. Egg Palace Antiques 4263 N. Prairie View Rd., Chippewa Falls • (715) 720-1071 • eggpalaceantiques.com Over 5000 square feet of art deco, breweriana, black Americana, cast iron, china, Christmas collector plates, enamelware, flatware, furniture, gas station, glassware, kitchen, linens, pictures, pottery, primitives, prints, railroad, stemware, sporting, tins, and tobacco.

16. Hope Gospel Mission Bargain Center 2511 W. Moholt Dr., Eau Claire • (715) 839-9498 • hopegospelmission.org This Eau Claire based business sells clothing, house wares, and above all, loads and loads of furniture. Items are added daily to the store's shelves and racks, which makes each shopping trip. Hope Gospel’s profits support local programs in the area.

17. Jean's Collectibles & Antiques 1514 N Clairemont Ave, Eau Claire Packed full of antiques, treasures, and vintage finds.

18. Dell's Architectural Antiques 121 Maple Street, Eau Claire • (715) 834-8872 • facebook.com/DellsArchitecturalAn tiques Specializing in antique collecting, salvage construction, reclaimed fixtures and furniture, and log homes. Over 12,000 square feet of space and over 10,000 items in selection.

19. Seven Suns Vintage 305 S Barstow St, Eau Claire • instagram.com/7sunsvintage/ Seven Suns Vintage is a new retro-inspired clothing store in downtown Eau Claire. Features an eclectic variety of aesthetics ranging from women's dresses to Harley Davidson jackets.

20. Antique Emporium 306 Main St., Eau Claire • (715) 832-2494 • Find it on Facebook An historic Masonic building in downtown full of the result of 3 decades of collection of fine antiques. The building was built in 1899 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. You'll find art, books, prints, sculpture, and Victoriana. The downtown location will close in September, but the Antique Emporium will subsequently re-open on Water Street

21. The Attic Furniture & Home Goods 2015 Fairfax Street, Eau Claire • (715) 225-9951 • JohnandMeg@theat ticEC.com • theatticEC.com 8800 square feet of quality, consigned pieces including mid-century furniture, home decor, art, local vendors, and more. They also manage off-site sales such as estate sales and store liquidations.

22. Encore Consignment Clothing Store 2541 E. Clairemont Ave, Eau Claire • (715) 833-2333 • encoreclothing wi.com The area's leading consignment shop serving a 100 mile radius of Eau Claire. Specializing in women's consign ment clothing, jewelry, bags, accessories and much more.

23. Savers 2833 Mall Dr., Eau Claire • (715) 835-8500 • savers.com/Default.aspx Featuring an ever-changing selection of secondhand clothing, furniture, accessories, costumes, electronics, and much more. Get coupons for your purchase by donating some goods of your own.

24. Bethesda Resale Shop 3178 London Rd., Eau Claire • (715) 834-7875 • bethesdalutherancommunities.org Great reads, quality furniture pieces, antiques, toys, collectibles, holiday decor, barely-worn clothing and decorative items.

12. Finish by Design 111 W. Spring Street, Chippewa Falls • (715) 723-6400 • jeff@finishbydesign.com

• Find it on Facebook

A furniture refinishing and repair shop that also houses an array of finished and DIY merchandise in its collection. Offers restoration and refinishing services for your antiques.

13. Sparrow Antiques 35 W Sprint Street, Chippewa Falls • facebook.com/SparrowAntiqueseauclaire • Find it on Facebook A space full of antiques & one of a kind vintage treasures. Bringing a new life to forgotten pieces. Sharing the love of old, the hunt and yesteryear.

14. Vintage Junkies 35 West Spring Street, Chippewa Falls

• (715) 495-0740 • facebook.com/VintageJunkiesShop Vintage Junkies recycles furniture to make it look lovely again. Selling all different kinds of vintage/antique items. During the summer they take their show on the road, selling furniture and vintage items at flea markets.

25. Goodwill - Eau Claire 3605 Gateway Dr., Eau Claire • (715) 835-0532 || 2500 Hils Ct., Menomonie • (715) 235-8488 • goodwill.org Goodwill has a large selection of all-ages clothing, used furniture, and basically anything else you could want. You can also drop off your old stuff here and purchases go towards creating jobs. Check out their seasonal selection of donated costumes and props. You’ll also find brand new decorations and costumes.

26. The Shed 1515 Mayer Road, Altoona • (715) 832-8585 • theshedantiques.com A massive, eclectic collection. You'll need to take a couple of laps to see everything available for purchase inside and out. Antiques, collectibles, primitives, crafts, and Amish baked goods.

27. Reimagine 25 E Lincoln Ave, Fall Creek • facebook.com/reimagineec Renewed, upcylcled furniture. farmhouse inspired decor, vintage finds, some antiques and many locally handmade items, purses, scarves, and small quilted items. Sells earth friendly paints, transfers, and stamps and hosts crafting workshops.

EMPORIUM EVOLVES

BELOVED DOWNTOWN ANTIQUE MALL PLANS AUCTION, RELOCATION

words by Tom Giffey • photo by Andrea Paulseth

It’s not as chock-full of antiques as it was a few months ago, but the Antique Emporium in downtown Eau Claire is still pretty chock-full of antiques.

There’s still a stuffed ostrich and a mounted bison head. A battle flag from a Civil War regiment and a carved wooden Thai dragon. Plus thousands of books, prints, pic ture frames, piec es of furniture and sculpture, and innumerable other antiquities awaiting the right owner.

what was originally a Masonic Hall.

Selling off most of their inven tory has reinforced some of Hugh Passow’s previous conclusions about the state of the antique market: Large pieces of furni ture and dishes that appeals to shoppers of previous gener ations are now difficult to sell, he says. Younger buyers are more drawn to two-di mensional items, such as the many prints in the shop.

THAT’S SOMETHING I’LL MISS HERE: HAVING PEOPLE COME AND ADMIRE ALL THE ODD STUFF.

Since shortly after announcing they were sell ing the stately brick building, 306 Main St., to Pablo Group late last year, Hugh and Marcella Passow have been holding an ongoing sale, deeply discounting the wares at the store they’ve operated since 1985 in

–HUGH PASSOW, OWNER, ANTIQUE EMPORIUM

Passow thinks it’s because people in this age group can more easily relate to flat images than three-di mensional objects because they are accustomed to seeing everything on screens.

“My biggest surprise is how damn much stuff I have,” he muses. Some of the display cases have been sold, as have some of the exotic pieces of

taxidermy. Passow has packed 250 boxes with books. But the multilev el store is still filled with thousands of items – much of it being sold at a discount.

Passow plans to hold an auction on Labor Day to sell off much of his remaining collection. Then, the business will relocate to a much smaller location at 508 Water St., between Neff’s Piano Shop and Angelus Salon and Spa. The Antique Emporium will shrink from about 20,000 square feet to about 1,900, which will require a downsiz ing effort of historic proportions.

That means the Passows will be selling lots of furniture, glassware, pottery, books, and plenty of mis cellaneous items, much of which will likely be sold in assorted lots. Passow expects a crowd, and he’s considering asking the city for per mission to close the block of Main Street next to the store and perhaps bringing in a food vendor.

The new location, which

Passow hopes to open sometime in September, is just around the corner from the location of his first antique shop on Fifth Avenue, which he co-owned in the 1970s.

“It’s kind of a wild full-circle,” he said.

The new store will be more of a small gallery than the vast museum of oddities that it is now. Nonetheless, it will offer a sampling of some of the antiques – including artwork, prints, and books – that shoppers have enjoyed perusing for decades at the Antique Emporium.

But Passow knows it won’t be the same: Gone will be the muse um-like atmosphere of the huge space crowded with a seemingly endless array of centuries worth of curiosities.

“That’s something I’ll miss here: Having people come and admire all the odd stuff,” he says.

Antique Emporium • 306 Main St, Eau Claire • (715) 832-2494