West End Architectural Salvage

I love the people and architecture watching in this place. they were able to make my Cubano with almond milk, and I can sit and a joy the ambiance! The staff and owners are the best and part of the reason I go back I whenever I am in town. Wish I could have stayed for the wedding they were setting up for… looked amazing!

So before HGTV featured this place, it was quiet and tranquil. Now whenever I go when I’m in town for holidays, it seems like everyone who’s anyone is here! Get a drink from the café (ask for a ceramic mug, not disposable!) and take a walk around each of the levels. Even though you may not feel inclined to make any large purchases, you’ll find some unique treasures that you wouldn’t have thought would be your taste. Even for someone who doesn’t like antiques, I can’t go to Des Moines without stopping here. Staff is super friendly, and will gladly strike up a conversation with you. I miss the quiet, calm days but they certainly deserve the good business!

Why throw away great stuff, when all you need to do is reimagine it!
Don has done a fantastic job building his business and what a noble pursuits.

My husband and I live in Seattle, and are visiting his family in Des Moines. We stopped by the store and found something we’d been searching for at least a decade — a ship medicine cabinet.
We would have missed it too, but the guys in the basement told us about the top 2 floors and their willingness to ship items:)
We’ve heard locals complain about the prices here, but compared to prices in Seattle these are very fair. They also have an outstanding variety and collection that is well curated.
You would think we could find this item in our home port town, but no we found it here in Iowa thanks to the great people at this store.

Took the daughter on Saturday and we had a very nice time! Loved listening to her ask what everything was. She’s 7 & full of questions! Had fun answering what I could but many things I’ve never seen. Didn’t find what I was looking for but won’t stop me from coming back. Wish I woulda took my camera. Would be a Great place to take photos!

I love to go antiquing; I equally love tiny crowded spaces filled with unfound treasures and the more curated antique shop for the serious design lover. I’m not sure which category West End would be in, but quality pieces are not what you’ll find here. WE is SO overpriced and there are so many other places around town where you’ll find useful pieces in much better condition. It seems to me that they bring things straight from the junkyard into the store, no cleaning or fixing involved.
This might be a shop more for those who want unique architectural elements randomly dispersed throughout their home, but for the more practical, functional shopper, I wouldn’t recommend. I think of it as more of a museum, and don’t expect to ever purchase anything here.

Stopped by here and I was mentally exhausted by the time I went from the top to the bottom floors. Very much brought me back to my antiquing days in the late 60’s and early 70’s with my folks. Fun place. I wish I had a bigger house back in Los Angeles.

Oh how I wish I had more money and more space. This place is a deorators dream for those who like the reclaimed style. It’s true life restoration hardware not the reproduce stuff. Prices are very stiff but you are also getting one of a kind type of items.
A great place to browse and spend a little bit of time especially since there is a little coffee shop downstairs.

We stopped here, with a baby and a 6 year old. The 6 year old was fascinated by the large letters and an old fashioned phone. While we didn’t like the stairs to climb (made it hard with a car seat), we did enjoy all the cool stuff to look at. Unfortunately, the prices were to high for us to purchase anything, even small items seemed like they were $ 20 to high, and the large items all have commas in them. (i.e. Over $ 1,000)

I was taken to see this place during a break in our day’s schedule — it was very cool! Such interesting stuff. A great place for pictures. Or a scary movie. There’s a restaurant inside, to boot.

When I come to West End Salvage, I treat my experience like I’m going to a museum rather than a shop/​store/​what-​have-​you. It’s 4 floors packed with antiques and collectables! There’s a coffee shop on the first floor that also sells treats and wine and beer, which I love. The décor is lovely and so fun to look at. There is a bathroom on every floor that are decorated to the nines. It’s quite lovely.
Everything here is super expensive and usually not in the best condition, hence the world ‘salvage’ in the store name. I’ve never purchased anything here other than a beverage, but damn if it isn’t fun to drink a beer and look at old stuff.

Psst. You ever stalked a place? How about an object?
West End Salvage will have you lusting after things, old beautiful things.
They have this beautiful huge mirror I have been lusting/​stalking after for a bit. But where would I put it, should I pay $ 1k for it? Both good questions. Don’t even get me started about these bar chairs I saw.
Floor upon floor of stuff. Some good. Some?
And the coffee shop… best caramel macchiato anywhere!

West End Salvage is like an amusement park of fun, if you like looking at interesting and crazy things. Part coffee shop, part antique store. This multiple level ware house is an easy place to sip some coffee and work or get lost in a maze of things you would never seen anywhere else.
Last year the tv show American Pickers did a segment on this store, and if you are a picker you are bound to find something fun in here.
As for the coffee shop they have a few tables to sit and work at or it’s a nice off the beaten path spot to have a meeting down town! Check this place out if you got some time to kill!

West End Salvage is definitely worth a visit if you’re in Iowa. If you like unique items or want to inspire your creative side you must stop and take a look around. Housed in a very cool old building, this place also has great coffee & snacks and a very friendly staff.

As a restoration specialist, I have been in well over a hundred architectural salvage stores across the country. After hearing locals excitingly describe West End Architectural Salvage and how a television show would be broadcast from there, I headed over to check it out.
I was severely disappointed. Their inventory was mediocre at best and overpriced compared to most of their counterparts. They had very few items of distinction. Almost everything I saw I have seen many of before, in better condition, and for far less money. For example, their antique hardware section should be melted down and sold for scrap because it’s junk, yet they want hundreds of dollars for something common and plain. Their doors are very basic. Their lighting selection is spread out, yet they lacked the finer custom pieces and high quality industrial works you will find elsewhere. Essentially no stock of vintage cabinets, poor selection of custom wood workings… I could go on ad on about my disappointment.
The coffee bar is a cool touch, and they also open the place for events like wedding receptions. It would have to be a small gathering because there isn’t much room on each floor and the building has many natural divisions that prevent large open spaces.
There is someone who works there, however, who is an amazing designer using re-​purposed materials. I saw several pieces of furniture throughout town that they built using their basic materials and they were all creative and stunning. So kudos to whoever is doing the design work, but shame on the owner for having such an over-​hyped, mediocre salvage store.
It’s a shame you don’t have more options in Des Moines.

Some interesting finds but the prices are outrageous, especially when half the store is filled with crap you couldn’t pay me to take home. The building itself is very cool, it has so much potential but the store staff is snobby. The coffee bar staff has always been friendly. It’s a nice place to check out just to see what weird and unusual things they have laying around, but I don’t think I would ever actually buy anything there.

I was visiting friends in Des Moines, and they knew how much I love antiques and old house parts, so they took me here. The first thing upon entering, a rather obnoxious middle aged man behind the coffee counter bellowed out at us, and asked where we were from. Upon hearing I was from Nebraska, he started making belligerent comments about how inbred I must be and how he was surprised I didn’t have a 3^rd arm growing out of my head. Wow. Classy. I just looked at him in shock, and moved on with my friends to get away from him.
The things here are a little higher priced than what I was used to, but it was fun to kind of wander and take it all in and try to forget about the encounter with the guy downstairs.
Upon leaving, the coffee counter guy must’ve had an inkling of how out of line he was… he yelled, «Didn’t mean to offend you!» as we walked out the door.
I go to Des Moines fairly often, and I’m always in the market for things for my home, but I will definitely not go back here after the crazy out-​of-​nowhere behavior I received upon walking in the door of this place, brought on merely by answering a question about where I was from. That was totally unprofessional and uncalled for. I get the fact that people in the Midwest have this whole state rivalry thing and they like to claim their state is better than the others, but if someone comes into your shop, and you ask where they’re from, and you start ragging on them, and you get nothing back but silence and looks of disbelief, then you should really drop it. Not everyone plays that game; not everyone is that obnoxious.

My review is based on atmosphere and coffee. Ok, and the people. This place is a wonderland of all things old, sometimes beautiful, and often strange. Road signs, windows and staircases from ancient tear-​downs, stained glass lanterns that once hung from church ceilings. Floor after floor of interesting finds!
The first floor holds a coffee bar (good coffee, juices, decent prices) and a nice open space to sit and enjoy your beverage — they also do special events if you need a space for a shower or similar gathering. The seating is at tables they’ve made from salvaged wood, metals, etc.
In my humble opinion, I think a lot of the stuff they have for sale is way overpriced. The pieces that they’ve put together (tables with beautiful salvaged metals, artfully pieced together) seem to be a good value to me — it’s art, really. But most of the stuff is in it’s original, old, dusty, sometimes broken state — very cool, but not worth the hundreds of dollars on the price tag (to me).
That said, I’m happy to wander around, wonder at the original purpose of some of the curiosities, and sip my tasty coffee.

Driving back to Chicago from Lawrence, Kansas is no small feat. It requires a willingness to take unexpected stops for pee-​pee and refills on iced coffee. While on I-​80, my husband and I made a detour in Des Moines, IA with the sole purpose of a quick bladder release and caffeine fix. We drove around the downtown area and through a street that led us to a giant sign that read, «COFFEE» and «ARTCHITECTURE» with a city jail located next door. No joke. We park conveniently next to the building and open the front door. My jaw dropped and for a moment, I was transplanted to another time. This time had no era and was made up of tin ceiling tiles, bricks salvaged from old buildings, scrappy wooden frames, dusty medicine bottles, rickety door handles and just about any salvaged piece of home/​farm/​business doo-​dad that you can imagine.
My husband and I promised to come back here when we move to collect a truckload of the stuff and build our own paradise. This place is worth the trip, but bring money! The prices are pretty reasonable (considering you don’t have to go haul the stuff out of an abandoned house) and if you buy a lot of stuff, name your price.

I recently co-​hosted an event at this space. First off, i would not recommend it to anyone! Its charm is easily overpowered by the dis-​organization. Take this for what is it worth! I do events nationally and work with 100’s of established venues each year, this was by far the worst experience in over 7 years of business.
The sticker for me was on the day of event, the owners said $ 150 was not enough for a server to work my event. Instead of apologizing for not finding someone to work the party, they said i was too cheap. Well, Don, I am sure someone — two days before Christmas, could of used $ 150. Instead, you pocketed it.
With that said, this situation left me 60 minutes before GO TIME short one person to help with the event (I was left to work it alone). To end the situation, they continued to charge me for the $ 150 — mind you no server — and then hand me a handwritten invoice after the party with the charge disguised as a rental fee.
This same invoice that was requested 72 hours in advance of the event so there would be no surprises like this. After the surprise invoice «Mind you I am done with the dumb tactics» I defer the invoice to my co-​hosts for payment (who are longtime loyal customers). The owner after hearing this news, decided it was okay to say some inappropriate remarks, insulting to say the least. Really? If there was a professionalism scale from 1 – 10, I would give them 1 star for having coffee.
From a company that buys old stuff and over charges the consumer, I hope they learn a little business sense here and you save some hard earned money. My advice to a green event space owner — don’t gloat about how many events you host in December, i am happy for you — you told me you had 12 events in 22 days. Don’t gloat and tell a client how much other clients pay for bottles of wine, even if you are making a nice margin on $ 70 bottles of wine. Most of all, don’t snuff small family budgets when you have already had a nice season. Lots of people are out of work and thankful for any business (not westend salvage). And most of all, when a client, big or small budget, asks for a invoice, GIVE IT TO THEM, this will help with surprises in the end and protects everyone involved. Lastly, don’t over charge people.
I hope this review will save you money if you are looking at doing a event or even buying something weathered for your home. Get your monies worth folks!
Save a penny in 2010. You will need it for ice cream