Broadway Antique Market

Alot of beautiful antique items; the place feels like a museum inside. Very easy to get lost in looking at all of the furniture, clothing, household items, and other antique items such as phones, pictures, dolls, books, and jewelry.

I am an empathetic motherfucker. That’s right, I have EMF. I care about people and things.
So it hurts me to say that Broadway Antique Market is a total dump. In fact, I am over the moon sad to have to report that this craphouse is total waste of time that no one should go to ever.
Their idea of a business, evidently, is where you rent out your shop in small sections to other dudes who go rummaging around abandoned storage lockers and probably alleys for old furniture and other bullshit and then pretend it’s antique instead of busted up crap. Then they charge like $ 20 or $ 100 or whatever the fuck for some trinket or pee stained chair from Sears bought in 1950.
I am also extremely sorry to report that each little tiny section of this shop has it’s junk locked up so then you have to enlist some old lady to open it up for you. Which is something I never contemplated doing even once as I strolled through. Due to all the merchandise being old, unexceptional, and comically overpriced.
Two weekends ago I went with dad to the Salvation Army store on Van Ness near Market in San Francisco. And I was like, even though I have EMF, this is a bunch of dusty crap. My dad however, an excited proponent of drek as pop art bough lots of stuff. I think he spent like $ 30 bucks.
So my feelings about this shop is that they should turn it into a Salvation Army or Brown Elephant. And stop pretending and hurting peoples feelings who wasted 5 minutes walking through this joke of a store.

Absolutely gorgeous vintage items — anything you need you can find. Only 3 stars because it is also unfortunately ridiculously overpriced. I always think if they make just one sale a week, they must be ok for rent! ;)

Great place! The staff was really busy when I was there but they took great care of me. This was my first time shopping in an antique market. Everything was very well organized and clean. I made a purchase and put something on layaway.

I love the stuff here. I just wish I was treated better. I go there quite often because I am a costume designer. Every time I go there I have made purchases with a tax exempt letter. I work for non profit theaters. The older lady had a sour attitude. ignoring us when we came in. When we went to make our purchase. I presented my tax letter and asked they accepted them… to which she frowned said sarcastically «I guess so». Why do you have to be rude? If I did not need the item for a show I would have left but I made my purchase anyway.

I will say this, if you’re looking for unique finds – this is the place. However, if you also assume that you will be treated like a decent human being while shopping at this establishment — well, don’t.
The minute we walked in, we were immediately met by a rather unfriendly person who demanded we check our bags at the front counter. It’s always nice to be treated like a common criminal at a store you were planning on spending money at. But, I get it. «Unique treasures await!» They want to protect the goods they probably painstakingly curated over a long period of time. Since I wasn’t planning on stealing anyway, I gladly handed over my shopping bags.
As we browsed through the collection, we were thoroughly impressed. I ended up falling in love with a powder blue, mint-​condition suitcase dating back to the 1950s. As I gleefully continued walking through the maze of racks, a short-​haired woman with glasses glared at me from behind the counter and insisted she’d, «hold on to that.» INSISTED, not asked. Right. Because I am going to make a run for it out of your store, stealing a big a** suitcase. Whatever, I once again relinquished my things to the clerk and made a half-​hearted loop around the last section of the store I hadn’t seen. At this point, I had seen enough.
Bottom line, these people have no idea how to treat customers. I was made to feel as if I were a thief instead of the enthusiastic patron I was. They deliver the goods, but they are short on human decency.
Btw…a short walk down the block is another antique mall. We weren’t treated with suspicion or made to feel uncomfortable at all. Save yourself some dignity and go there instead.

At the end of the day, I must admit my issue with BAM is as much about my personal touch of «crazy» as about their shop. But here it goes.
The name of this place is «Broadway ANTIIQUE Market.» But guess what they don’t sell… ANTIQUES! Now, since they specialize in selling «old stuff» it seems to me that someone at the store know that they are NOT an «ANTIQUE» store. Instead they are overloaded with a ton of vintage/​retro items and RARELY have a piece or two of antique furniture.
Now why am I crazy? Because I keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. BAM continues to be touted online as one of the top «Antique» shops in Chicago, and they continue to hold on to the misnomer of «Broadway ANTIQUE Market,» so I keep returning (thinking something has changed) only to have my eyeballs tortured by the sight of 2 floors of vintage furniture and home accessories. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to find 1 – 2 pieces of antique furniture, usually Eastlake, but usually nothing. I drive to other cities for antique shopping and would be livid if I ended up in a place like this.
Considering my visceral, stomach churning reaction to vintage furniture, I promise not to return. I just wish that either BAM or online articles would promise to stop misusing the term «antique» in relation to this store.
Lastly, I’ve seen the complaints about customer service, but I’ve always found them to be nice and helpful… even when I’m complaining about the fact that they have no antique furniture.
Looking for vintage/​retro furniture/décor…go to BAM.

An ok assortment of wares, at high prices; very average as far as antique malls go. None of the booths were particularly engaging. It’s not high-​end or particularly well-​curated, but neither is it a good spot for treasure hunting.

Pricey, but a great place to at least look around if your an antique lover. Interesting place, window displays are awesome, always tempting me to go in.

I saw this place on some sort of «best places to shop in chicago» list and was thrilled it was near my home.
I was slightly disappointed. It is a very average antique mall. I left without buying anything, which speaks something because I spend $ 60 @ walgreens when I go just for toilet paper.
I mean pretty standard antique shop fare. Lots of old dusty furniture and such. Nothing really struck me as fun or important.

Friendly guys, and great stuff. Just bought a great lamp. Highly recommended!

Lots of variety and tons of things to see. Some good mid-​century modern finds, as well as tons of jewelry and vintage art.

The furniture selection and prices are a steal! The quality of the furniture is outstanding. There is a reason they have been voted Best Shop for Vintage/​Antique Furniture in Chicago by TimeOut and New City year after year. Beyond furniture, they have a great selection of antique jewelry, art, stereoscopic views, lamps, and other decorative items. Love this place!

The thing about vintage or antique shopping is that usually you have to dig. It kind of smells AND you have to dig. Things are piled on top of other things, it kind of smells AND you have to dig. Not here. Everything is merchandized beautifully and is clean.
The first group of items I officially noticed (because they were hard not to see and I tend to have a gravitational pull towards pretty things) was the jewelry. There were many beautiful colors of bakelite bracelets and gorgeous gold-​plated necklaces.
You’ll love it here and famous people LOVE Broadway Antique Market, too! Tom Hanks, and John Malkovich have rummaged around on occasion and my boy, Nate Berkus, recommends it on Oprah’s site, which makes it like double-​recommended.
What kept happening to me here was I would do a lap, then do another one and realize there were 1,000 things I didn’t see the first time. This is definitely one of those places where you want to do MANY passes.
In the end, I bought an extraodinary vintage LL Bean Bag. I have a genius shoe repair man where I live, who also works on other leather accessories, that will whip this bag into shape. For my husband, I bought a cocktail recipe shaker. Gorgeous.
My friend, Leah, found a vintage Le Creuset fondue pot that still had the tags on it. Looks like people didn’t use fondue pots in the past the same way we don’t use fondue pots now. Except for Leah, she’ll use the crap out of it. Great find for her.
Whether you call it antique or vintage, this kind of shopping is fun IF you go to the right places and this one is.

The last two times I’ve come to Chicago I’ve made a special trip here. What does that tell you?
The people are very friendly and have been helpful about opening the cases for me when I’ve wanted to see something close up.
There are a LOT of items here for everyone. Jewelry, furniture, table top items, clothes, books, old paper items (dance cards, family albums, cards, sheet music, books), etc. The upstairs is a lot of modern furniture which, if I had an unlimited budget, I would buy up in a snap.

Very nice to visit.
Lots of collections. Reasonable price.
Always fun to look at thier a pair of glasses :)

The service here is horrifying. We recently moved to Edgewater and were enjoying an afternoon of stopping into shops to check things out. I love antique items, but instead of a hello when we walked through… we got a «set your drinks on the counter please» in a snobby gruff tone from the elderly woman in half-​glasses. I work in retail as well, and if the policy is no drinks… I at least ask NICELY. Oh yea, they weren’t cans of soda or a large cups from a fast food place… they were CLOSED WATER BOTTLES. Closed securely.
I was still mildly interested in checking things out, but the most interaction I got from the staff was the grumpy woman. They were all huddled around a computer and glancing at customers in a snobby arrogant fashion. The environment was just as pompous as they were. Some beautiful merchandise was there (overpriced nonetheless) but you’d have to portray an uptight better-​than-​others attitude before they’d pay attention.
I’d give this place a zero if possible.

There are so many rooms in this place with awesome treasures in every little nook and corner. On this occasion I found two great vintage postcards, priced at $ 5 and $ 2 — so nothing outlandish, price-​wise. However, I didn’t get to take them home with me. Here’s why:
When I went up to the counter, I asked the short-​haired woman who was at the computer if this is where I paid. She tersely said «I’ll be with you in one second» without looking up from her post — which is fine, I’ll wait here happily, as I’m sure whatever you’re in the middle of doing is important to you in the moment. After a minute she came over to ring me up, and my total was $ 7.67 or something like that. I had exactly seven dollars in cash, so I handed her my credit card and she straight up SNAPPED at me, with a hellacious rudeness from the depths of some repressed experience that in this moment manifested itself in the form of the deadliest glare and the ugliest pursed lips (like the Aunt Petunia-​style kind): «I CAN’T take a card.»
Whoa. Sorry for breathing, lady. So I shrugged and said «oh well» and my friend and I promptly left, noting on our way out that there was definitely a MasterCard/​Visa sticker on the door, and that there were no signs anywhere indicating there was a minimum to use a card. All that this woman needed to do was to say «I’m sorry, we can’t accept a credit card under XX amount of dollars.» I would have been totally cool with that. People do it all the time — but without impersonating Ursula the Sea Witch.
You do what you need to do to keep costs down for your business — I totes get that. But you know what doesn’t cost anything? Being polite to and transparent with your customers. I sure hope that short-​haired glasses-​wearing BAM lady has herself a cocktail or practices some deep breathing exercises before she encounters another human being. Namaste, homegirl!

Broadway Antique Market is probably my favorite go-​to antique shop in the city. In the past, I’ve found some great vintage duds, 30’s-40’s kitchen items, and a few small pieces of furniture. Prices are always negotiable and the staff, while not overly-​friendly, are helpful if you need something.
If you like to poke around and browse, say on a cold winter afternoon, you can definitely waste some time here with the variety of small, medium or large collectibles. Some prices are fairly high, but deals can be found. If you are like me, you just may settle for some vintage postcards of Chicago. If you have the time to be patient and thorough, it might pay off.
If you’re a fan of mid-​century modern, you will find a lot of items here. If I ever change my own décor from «Episcopalian Lodge» to mid-​century modern, I would make this place my first stop. So if you have old money to burn on old things, or if you just want to get some design ideas, take a stroll through here sometime. Doesn’t cost to look.

This place has it all!
Mint condition old furniture and clothing at each area in this monstrous store. But you will have to pay a pretty penny for your finds, realizing you may not be able to find a similar item most anywhere else.
Special find: The «risqué» playing cards and other adult novelty items from the 1920s are truly amusing.