A new vintage thrift store has opened in Ballard, operating within the walls of the Scandinavian furniture store SparkleBarn (2611 NW Market St).
The Barn Owl owner Josh Dand has been collecting vintage goods since his younger years and has been selling through markets in Fremont Vintage Mall. Dand tells My Ballard that he’s always been drawn to the stories behind vintage items.
“One of the things I loved about doing markets was the ability to tell the story behind the pieces we were selling and while we enjoyed our time at the Fremont Vintage Mall, the stories didn’t always make it to the folks who bought our pieces there,” Dand said.
“We had a dream to open our own shop with our friends where we could provide a place for folks to hang out and learn a bit about the brands and pieces of yesteryear, we just didn’t know it would happen as soon as it did.”
Dand met Shane Bastian, the owner of SparkleBarn, when the furniture store opened last year.
“I was refinishing furniture as part of our offerings at the Fremont Village Market and would often ask him for advice and insight,” Dand explained. “As the lockdown began to ease, I was sourcing more mid-century furniture and began to help Shane out around SparkleBarn and use his workshop to work on pieces.”
“As a fellow small business owner, I know the challenges that are inherent in trying to wear more hats than you have heads and figured anything I could do to help out someone whose vision I believed in was worth it to keep this slice of funky Ballard charm going.”
They spoke about opening a sort of “speakeasy” within the furniture store as they began to brainstorm how to combine both of their passions.
“I like to say he majors in fine furnishings but minors in vintage clothing, whereas I major in vintage clothing and minor in mid-century furnishings,” Dand said. “So we have quite a bit of overlap on our Venn diagram of interests and it made a lot of sense for us to grow our collaboration.”
The two kept talking, and Dand started to recruit some of his vintage thrifters to help make it happen.
“By late December, we reached an agreement and that’s when the Barn Owl first started to take flight,” Dand said.
Dand refers to his vendors as “friendors,” all of whom he says helped make the new space a reality. “There’s a lot of love in the place and I think it shows.”
The shop has 10 vendors who supply The Barn Owl with different items they have curated themselves, including Rexville Vintage, Silver Bell Vintage, Social Club Vintage. Each month there is a rotating featured vendor, either someone who can be new to vintage selling or an online vendor looking for a place to set up shop for a short time.
They are currently open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Located inside of SparkleBarn furniture store (2611 NW Market St.) They are also available to book private appointments if a customer feels more comfortable in that atmosphere.
You can follow The Barn Owl Vintage on Instagram to see the vintage pieces they have to offer along with the vendors they partner with.
Photo courtesy @barn.owl.vintage on Instagram.
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