Salmagundi West

Salmagundi definitely has it’s fair share of oddities, but it had a few more mass-​produced items than I expected. Things get really weird downstairs. I recommend descending the rickety staircase and exploring down below.
The basement is absolutely haunted. I felt a presence immediately. Go experience it for yourself.

I have been coming here for years.
Perfect for stocking stuffers, fun/​weird stuff for friends and coworkers and just a great place to spend some time.
Whenever I mention the «drawer store» I’m pretty shocked when someone doesn’t know which store I’m talking about.

There are antiques, but they are over shadowed by the new, plastic, kids party favors. I was pretty disappointed.

This little store on Cordova Street is a real treasure. I can’t think of a more eclectic store in the whole city in fact. Even the building is unusual! One of very few ‘flat-​iron’ shaped buildings we have in Vancouver.
Inside the owner has done a tremendous job mixing vintage ‘eclectica’ with more some contemporary pieces — it’s obvious a ton of effort is put into curating the store and what’s for sale there. Everything from taxidermy to Victorian jewellery to vintage clothing to antique telephones.
And the staff are absolutely lovely!

Such a fun antique shop! The girls and I loved looking around. We visited twice! This shop carried a lot of interesting pieces and no junk! They have new items as well. My teen bought a Lana Del Rey vigil candle. She loves it. My little one chose an antique violin. The man that worked both times we were there was so nice to us. He was genuinely a really nice person and these types of people are rare.

A fairly small shop with a lot of antiques, but also a lot of cheaply made new stuff. The few older items I was interested in were pretty expensive. The one staff person who helped me was friendly.

Wonderful antique store! Very friendly and helpful staff. Well-​organized and priced reasonably. My friend and I spent an hour and a half browsing! An easy store to spend time in, I will definitely return next time I’m in Vancouver.

I consider this the «Obscura» or the «Loved to Death» of Vancouver! I enjoy my visits to this store because they offer the most unusual, unique and vintage relics of the past.
The items in the store ranges from scientific tools to vintage posters to animal taxidermy!
The staff is very helpful, friendly and down to earth! They have excellent customer service and there isn’t a lot of sales pressure.

One of my most favorite antique stores in the city. I remember coming here with my sister when I was younger and buying antique marbles here (and from the other place next door). I always feel naughty when I go downstairs and look at the treasures in the drawers (which are meant to be looked at). This is a well organized antique store, lots of selections and looking at everything is like being in a movie. The staff are really friendly. Depending on the condition and age, prices are decent.

Goddamn, I love this little shop. The cute sisters greeting you are exceptionally delightful. Always a smile plastered onto their pretty little faces. Infact, I’d come here just to get a glimpse of their bright aura’s.
I can spend hours and hours going through all the little drawers of stuff. It’s like a stripper in a stiletto shop I tell ya. This time, I came home with nothing, but I was really tempted to buy a kazoo and a weiner dog to put on my mantle.

since 1997, i have lingered and filed through many a treasure at salmagundi west. it is one of my very favourite places in vancouver — items of all kinds for all kinds.
highly recommend a visit.

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I love antiquing. It is an old hobby I do not try to indulge in too much as I can get carried away! So I popped in here one day when I was wandering by. I don’t know what drew me in. Probably all the interesting items in the window. Oddities, I think they call them. While I was there someone called on the phone looking for a skull of some sort, but I was much too busy admiring all the interesting things. There is even a Chinese medicine cabinet downstairs that is full of stuff you can look through. Again, I could spent all day and a lot of money but chose onkly to leave with two items a rose knob
and a string of red beads I used on a DIY project.

Absolutely the most incredible, mind-​blowing collection of treasures I’ve ever encountered. It is an absolute must every time I visit Vancouver. Be prepared to spend the day, as there’s so much to take in. From unique vintage jewelry to wind-​up toys, odd books, butterfly wings, antique mah-​jongg sets — the list in limitless. If you’re after unusual gifts, unique home décor, or one-​of-​a-​kind curios, there is *no* other place on earth like it. I have ordered things by phone which I remember seeing in their shop, and they are incredibly accommodating about shipping things safely, and as economically as possible.
Do not even *think* about visiting Vancouver without stopping in to Salmagundi!

I adore this store, but I was slightly disappointed that they didn’t have more of a selection of what I came in looking for – vintage suitcases and trunks. They had 3 on floor one, and 2 on floor two; and all were in less than stellar shape for what they were selling them for, about on average $ 100.
There are certain things in this store which are not worth the price. The stationery is completely overpriced and I would actually check at a stationary store if I was looking for journals, paper and the like. The wrapping paper is overpriced as well.
However the randomness of this store will make me come back, and I will spend more time in there the next time. 15 minutes wasn’t nearly enough!

I am drawn into Salmagundi West every time I pass by it. Sometimes, I deliberately make my way down to Cordova to visit this and the neighbouring antiques store, Uniques. Yet, for all the times I’ve been here, I’ve only ever bought a box of matches. Why? I’ve realized it’s NFS.
A little sticker with the letters «NFS,» indicating that that the item is Not For Sale, is affixed to seemingly everything that appeals to me and beckons me inside this shop.
I wish they would NFS the plastic toys found in their chest of many drawers. Or, NFS the overpriced, rusted tin boxes. Don’t believe the sign that says, «The Good Stuff’s Downstairs.» It’s not. It’s on the main floor and it is NFS’d.

Hands down my favourite shop in Gastown. Creepy goodness that astounds the imagination, then cuteness you could fill up a shoe box with. Gifts for the insane, like myself, unique gift cards for anyone, old photographs of people and places in frames or on post cards, or how about an anatomically correct hermaphrodite human organ model. Uh-​huh.
Actually, I think the place is haunted, too… just to add to the attraction.

Ain’t no villians in this store, but there sure is a lot of retro goods. Its like hanging out in your grandma’s cluttered attic filled with strange objects of desire. Ain’t no party like my Nana’s tea party… hey… ho! For example, they had a light hanging when you first walk in and the chandelier around it just happens to be a trumpet! Whoever had to wire that shit up deserves some recognition. They also had some cool crow skulls (not real ones) that you could buy as necklaces, funky stationary, and oversized old-​school-​looking scissors that could probably cut your fingers off. These were obviously just invented so people could tell us not to run with them, but sometimes I like to live on the wild side.
The store is kinda cramped, so its probably a good thing I’m skinny, and there are some awkward stairs that you can take to go downstairs where there are more bizarre old things. Even if you don’t plan on buying anything, its kind of fun to stop in and just look at stuff, cuz there’s just so much of it!

At the top of Salmagundi’s staircase on a rickety mannequin drapes a lace dress with a headpiece attached — a skullcap of sorts with bunny ears. The entire get-​up reminds me of the dream-​like bunny suit from Donnie Darko except a feminine, Victorian version. It would make a great Halloween costume.
But it’s not for sale!
So I bought some antique cigar boxes and a book of grotesque Halloween postcards instead.

I LOVE this shop. I could (and have) spent a couple of hours in this place. There’s just so much to look at.
They have everything from antique and vintage compasses, postcards, printing press blocks, military buttons, cameras, lock and keys, peacock feathers, jewelry, beads, and reading glasses to new gag gifts, music boxes, wind up robots, and toy trinkets. Everyone says check out the chinese chest — do it. You honestly never know what you’ll find in each drawer.
The shopkeeper is also super chill. If you have a dog, feel free to let him or her wander around the store, cuz she keeps her pup behind the desk too.

On the surface, this store looks like your average antique store. It’s situated in that building that comes to a point where Trounce Alley and Cordova Street meet, and the windows are filled with old china and silvery things. But come inside and make your way down the stairs to the basement, and you will find a wonderful selection of old-​fashioned cards and wrappings, retro wind-​up toys, and all kinds of gifty things.
The really special thing about Salmagundi is the giant antique Chinese chest along one wall. It has, literally, over 100 little drawers, each filled with delightful novelties, toys, candies, and soaps. I can easily spend over an hour down there, looking in all the drawers and playing (gently) with cool tin toys that look like the ones we used to have at Grandma’s house.
If you’re needing a unique last-​minute gift for someone, this is a good place to find it. Prices do seem to me to be a little steep for trinkets, but nobody said nostalgia was cheap.