buy & sel l
Industrial Rising Vin-tage In-dus-tri-al: Of or relating to items that exhibit the best of a certain quality, associated with or belonging to the style exemplified by factories in the first half of the 20th century. (i.e., exposed natural wood and brick walls, bare light bulbs, muted colors, factory floor furniture, metal piping, etc.)
By Michael and James Fry
A
option of going
growing trend in the repurpose scene is that of vintage industrial. From loft apartments to your local Chipotle restaurant, industrial décor
online and recreating the look
Toledo Drafting Stool
and styling has infiltrated modern design. One of the first places this aesthetic started to take hold was in urban coffee shops. Exposed brick walls, lots of natural wood, old drafting stools—these seem tailor-made for the coffee drinkers vibe. Soon Starbucks even joined in the fray, introducing reclaimed urban wood table tops and reproduction industrial lighting into many of its locations. Then the style moved beyond the borders of caffeine consumers and can now be seen daily in the likes of Dwell , Ikea stores, and a Pinterest post near you. Big box hardware stores like Home Depot and Lowes carry an array of industrial style lighting options like cage pendant lights, hanging warehouse lights and even reproduction vintage incandescent filament light bulbs. So now, you the vintage buyer, have the
garage sales, estate sales, and flea markets with the possibility of finding overlooked or underpriced items. Often these can be found in the form of old metal fans, wire crates, vintage letters and signs, safety deposit boxes, typewrit- ers, light fixtures, and other similar items. A 1950s working Vornado fan sells between $50- $65, metal crates and safety deposit boxes bring $15-$40, and condition sets the value of vintage typewriters. Cleaned up and fully serviced, you can sell an old Underwood typewriter for $125- $200. If you want to put in more effort than the smaller items require, and usually make a larger profit, you could also be on the lookout for furniture. Solid wood card catalog files can sell from $100-$1,000 depending on the num- ber of drawers. Old factory lockers can gener- ally bring several hundred dollars. Wooden
with reproductions ... or going on the hunt for the repurposed, upcycled, and original vintage industrial pieces. Kansas City has a host of purchasing options when delving after those unique industrial items that are the perfect fit for your home or your end use customer. From local estate sales to busi- ness liquidation auctions, flea markets and antique stores, there are many choices for the vintage industrial buyer. On one side of the spectrum there are companies in Kansas City (like Adventure Indoors and Edwin Blue) that purchase reclaimed hardwood beams and flooring from early 20th century build- ings. They refinish the planks and resell them as flooring or craft them into custom pieces of furniture with vintage industrial style. The other side of buying options includes
Don’t know if you’re getting your money’s worth? Having trouble pricing or finding a good deal on an item? Tell us about it at erin@vintagekcmag.com.
VintageKC / Winter 2012 8
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