Hot Off The Press...Flea Market Finds Magazine!

Several months ago, I was shadowed by a writer while I shopped at the Long Beach Antique & Flea Market.  We spent several hours together talking about my business while hunting for treasure. The result?  A feature article about me in this special edition "bookazine", Flea Market Finds.  It is just hitting newsstands now and should be available through mid-September.

Featuring a multitude of great articles about shopping at flea markets, insider tips, projects, and of course, several different stories on dealers in the industry.  The writer of most of the articles is Bonnie McCarthy, a contributor to the Huffington Post blog as well as her own blog, This American Home.  It's quite the compendium on the subject of flea markets and a handy guide to keep for future reference.

In this digital age, sometimes it's still nice to get the tactile feel and glossy finish of a magazine.  An iPad or digital reader can't give you that.  Go pick up a copy at your local newsstand and support a small business!

Meeting David Weidman, Mid-Century Artist

I have vivid memories of watching Fractured Fairy Tales, the cartoons that ran between episodes of The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show.  I can recall the narrator's voice well but really remember the distinctive art style and more sophisticated humor of these cartoons. 

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to meet David Weidman, a celebrated Mid-Century artist.  David is perhaps best known for his work in animation, most notably Fractured Fairy Tales and Mr. Magoo.  His work is often described as whimsical and reflects a now iconic and timeless style.  Check out Mad Men to see some of his work!

Inretrospect, on famed "Retro Row" in Long Beach, has quite a large cache of David's work for sale and hosted an event showcasing pieces from the Weidman family archives. 
David began screen-printing his work based on the suggestion by his wife, Dorothy, and the rest is history.  All of the original screens used to produce his prints have been destroyed so there is a definite limited supply of his work remaining.  You can see some of them on his website.

I had acquired one of his "Grey Owl" prints at an estate sale.  I took it to the appearance and asked him to tell me about it.  He briefly looked at it and then inspected the way it was framed.  I was ready to defend myself and say I had bought it that way when he told me he had personally framed the print himself in his workshop.  What a memory he has at 92!  The print is not numbered and he told me it was a very early print from before his family had him start numbering his work.  I loved the print when I bought it, but getting the chance to speak with him about it makes me cherish it even more.  I had him sign the back of it and told him it would be hanging in my daughter's room.

It was an amazing experience and one I will not forget!

Time flies when you're having fun...

The past year does in fact seem to have passed by in a blur for retroda!  So much has happened, is happening right now, and will be happening in the very near future.  I hope all of that grammar is correct!

Here's a brief recap of what's going on with retroda:

Long Beach Antique Mall II - still running my business at this store as it continues to develop and build a customer base. Lots of new dealers have moved in and there's always something new to see.

inretrospect - This store's popularity continues to grow.  Lots of publicity from magazine and newspaper articles, as well as some amazing special events hosted by the owners.  I am currently working on a major expansion at this store - stay tuned for a location update coming soon!

Warehouse 1333 - Last year I opened a "shop within a shop" at this store in Long Beach.  The store features an eclectic mix of product and sells a lot of furniture.  I have mixed an assortment of Mid-Century goods, plus industrial/salvage and vintage office items including tanker desks, file cabinets, and other accessories.

Orange Avenue Estate, Salvage, & Garden - As of last Fall I no longer have a dealer space in this store.

One Kings Lane - A successful launch on the One Kings Lane website forced a quick learning curve on running a vintage e-commerce business!  Photographing products, listing them for sale, staying in-stock with shipping boxes and packing supplies, and packing and shipping orders have added new tasks to the daily workload.  Busy = success.  Bring it on!

Long Beach Antique/Flea Market - retroda is no longer selling at the show, but you might see us shopping the aisles now. Watch for the overflowing carts headed to the parking lot!

That's a wrap.  Will try my best not to "fall off the wagon" again, especially since its a vintage Radio Flyer!

Live on One Kings Lane!

Upcoming items to be featured in the retroda shop at One Kings Lane

This week marked the start of e-commerce business for retroda. The first few items have begun to be offered for sale on the One Kings Lane website.  retroda is featured in the Vintage & Market Finds section where each day you will find hundreds of items that have been selected by One Kings Lane merchants to be offered for sale for five days only.

There is also a page where you can see just the current offerings from retroda:  https://www.onekingslane.com/shop/retroda 

Things appear to be moving quickly and two items sold this week on their first day up for sale:

Embroidered Pillow Sham from retroda at One Kings Lane

Mid-Century Barware Collection from retroda at One Kings Lane

It's an encouraging sign and hopefully an indicator of future success!  Check out the website and the retroda shop and let me know what you think!

Happy First Anniversary - Long Beach Antique Mall II

It's hard to believe that it's been an entire year since I was one of the first dealers to move into the Long Beach Antique Mall II. The mall got a very fast start in the antique/vintage marketplace and has had a waiting list to rent a dealer space almost since opening. There is a dedicated following of interior decorators, set designers, and vintage collectors and more people are discovering the store every day. With more than 50 dealers regularly bringing in items, you never know what treasures you might find!


To celebrate the one year anniversary, the store is having a 2-day party on Father's Day weekend, June 16th & 17th. Many dealers are running specials on their entire inventory which is pretty rare for this store. retroda will be participating by offering a 20% discount on all items for these two days only. If you've had your eye on something recently, it is definitely time for action! Come see us this weekend and help us celebrate!

One Kings Lane

I am super excited to officially announce the launch of an online business for retroda through the website One Kings Lane. One Kings Lane was founded in 2009 as an online "flash sale" website featuring designer home furnishings and lifestyle products. Today there are more than 3 million registered customers who watch the site regularly for curated sale events that last only five days. One Kings Lane also regularly features "Tastemaker Tag Sales" from top interior designers with some of their recent events coming from Robert & Cortney Novogratz and some of the "Million Dollar Decorators".


retroda was selected to be a vendor in the new Vintage & Market Finds section featured alongside other dealers from around the country. Several hundred items are listed for sale each day beginning at 8:00 PST/11:00 EST and while they are available for five days, lots of items get snapped up in the first few hours. We have been very busy preparing to "go live" on the site and have converted the dining room into an impromptu photo studio complete with white backdrop and multiple lights. Next step will be getting ready to ship out all of the items that sell!


I am busy submitting my proposed items to their buying and merchandising team and, once they are approved, should have items up on the site within a couple of weeks.  I'm happy to be partnering with One Kings Lane on this e-commerce endeavor and hope it is the start of something big!

You Can't Go Home Again...

I go to a lot of estate sales and sometimes it's hard to decide if one is going to be worth my time and effort to attend. Where is it located? What kind of items are they advertising? How do the photos of the sale look? There are a lot of variables that affect my decision to go to a specific sale or pass it by.


This past Sunday at the Long Beach Flea Market, the owner of one of the area's estate sale companies stopped by my booth and told me I needed to come to his sale this week as he thought there were a lot of things I would be interested in. Before I spoke with him, I had seen his ad and decided it was going to be a "pass" on this sale. I'm glad I changed my mind!


It turns out that the house the sale was held at was my parents' first house! Driving over to the sale, I knew the house was on the same street I lived on until I was four years old, but when I pulled up to the address I knew it was our old house! I don't think I have any actual memories from living there, but I recognized a few things from old family photos - the banquette in the kitchen, the patio where I played with my sister, the stoop where my grandma sat, my mom in the front yard by the succulent plants, and my dad in the backyard showing off his deep-sea fishing catch. While I was positive it was the same house, I was able to confirm it with the son of the home's owner as he was at the home during the sale. He told me it was his mother's home and she is the one who purchased it from my parents many years ago. As the song goes, it's a small world after all...


I did end up purchasing some furniture and other things from the sale but since they are not my family's they will not be hard for me to sell. However, I did recently receive some furniture from my uncle's estate that my parents had given to him when they furnished their new home - living room tables that came from the house I visited today. They may not be "heirlooms" but they do have some sentimental value for me. At least I can validate their mid-century authenticity!


Who says "you can't go home again"?  Today, I did!