Vaguely Reminiscent

Super cute and fun boutique. They have some fantastic pieces of jewelry here as well as some awesome trinkets and toys. This is my go-​to place if I need to buy a gift for a girlfriend. Definitely come and check it out!

Great find on Ninth St! Fun little shop with tons of interesting nic knacks, jewelry and some clothing. Perfect place if you’re searching for a unique gift for that hard-​to-​please person on your list. I liked the selection of tiny sterling silver stud earrings they had towards the front of the shop.

This shop has a nice variety of jewelry, tchotchkes, clothes, accessories, etc. It is a good place to find a gift — some of the clothes are a bit spendy for what they are (i.e.
t-​shirt knit skirt $ 72 and like that).
But shopping there is fairly unpleasant — I’ve been there about 5 times, and there is usually a lot of pressure to «let me start a dressing room» and «hey, just put your purse behind the counter, so you can relax». That’s just all code for «we’re super suspicious and treat you like teenagers who may shoplift at any moment». The owner is the most aggressive and I have left because of her. The others are a little more friendly, but the continuous heckling is very tedious. I’m an adult and I’d like to be treated as one.
It’s a whimsical store with cool stuff — but the staff kind of sucks all the enjoyment out of shopping there.

My 4 stars are for the lovely items in this store. However, I can’t be a customer here anymore. The clerks hover repeatedly. Forget trying to browse or touch anything. Today, I watched the woman peer at me as I looked at the hanging items, and I was asked no fewer than 4 times if I’d like to try something on, have a dressing room, try it on, until I just had to leave! I like to browse, I usually buy, and I very happily buy in local shops, but please, dial it back!

adorable fun shop with clothes shoes, jewelery and gift items –its very very hard to leave without buying something. excellent prices

Absolutely lovely store on Ninth street, can’t believe I’ve been walking past it all this time. Having read many positive reviews on Unilocal I decided to wander in with a friend; as we were two of three people in the store the shopkeepers spent a lot of time with us explaining the items that were currently included in the Winter Sale.
Much cute merchandise to be found here, from notebooks to bookbags, from clocks to clothes, little stuffed animals and gifts and novelty items galore. I bought a nice gray scarf for $ 8 though I had my eye on a purse with a French motif that turned into a backpack until I realized it was $ 60, so be warned: not all the prices are low. Also, since the store was so small, I felt that it was hard to have a private conversation, so expect the store helpers to chime in during your conversations.
In any case, fun location to check out and browse through.

Live close by Ninth Street and end up looking around this store but usually dont buy anything because of how expensive it is. Vaguely is a good place to get ideas and is a cute small little shop that’s fun to walk through because of the fun trinkets. My one purchase I made there was a durable wallet which was useful and was worth the money.

Thank goodness it started raining and we needed a place to duck into! I could spend hours going through all of the little goodies in this store; it took me 20 minutes just to get past the front door there was so much to check out. Super fun jewelry, scarves, novelty knick knacks… give yourself some time in this place. The ladies running the store were super sweet, too.

I love browsing around Vaguely Reminiscent when it isn’t crowded. When it is crowded, you can’t move (it’s a VERY tiny, VERY packed store), so I avoid it.
They have a lot of great stuff, especially in the jewelry/​accessories/​gifts department. They also have great Durham shirts and sensible shoes that aren’t hideous (say what?!).
I had one negative experience with the owner – she was very aggressive when I was on the fence about a purchase – but all other visits have been incredibly pleasant.

4.5 stars
Such a cute little store on ninth street (there’s a trend here, I must think all stores on 9^th street are cute)!! You can find adorable gifts, pretty gifts, trendy gifts, vintage-​ish gifts, weird gifts, gadgets, and more! It’s a perfect spot to pick up a unique gift for a family member or friend. There are cards too!
It’s a little pricey but sometimes there are good deals. For instance, just this past weekend, all the sunglasses were $ 9.00! That was lovely and I took one. Their selection of earrings are also pretty nice too and range from ~$ 10-​$ 30 ish. Anything else? Shoes, clothing, wallets, random mouth freshener sprays, music boxes, trinket boxes, travel books, books, random books, oddities, and the list goes on! Definitely stop by!

«Just another typical day at Vaguely Reminiscent!» cheered one of the workers as my Unilocaling boyfriend Ben Y. and I perused through the store. «We’re already here…» Ben whispered, taken aback by her declaration and her apparent need to sell the store to us.
Vaguely Reminiscent is a funky store and is full of surprises. Nearly every Fred product is available for purchase, as well as those products featuring vintage-​looking photographs of women doing household chores, but saying risqué things. There are so many things to take in while walking around and all the products either evoke a sense of nostalgia (for me it was seeing one of those balancing birds that sits on a little stand and never tips over) or a smile (those fake keyboard keys that say things like «panic,» «OMG» and «shift happens»).
The jewelry selection, especially the earrings, is vast and super cool. The jewelry is the kind of jewelry you won’t see anywhere else, and I mean that in the best way.
What a fun place. It’s a fairytale in there.

We stumbled on this little gem of a store on a lovely quiet Sunday afternoon. We were looking for something unusual to remember our quick little North Carolina vacation with, and also a gift for our hosts.
I bought a necklace from which dangled a tiny fork and spoon — how adorable was that! I’ve worn it several times since and always get comments on it. For our hosts, we bought a very unusual bird feeder since they are major birders and it looked perfect in their yard.
Yes, the space is a bit cramped, so be careful that you don’t knock down something if you’ve got a big purse (or butt).

On a recent trip back home to NC, I accompanied my sister to her first visit to this store. I had visited this store multiple times during my stay at a nearby school — the walks down to Ninth Street were always a treat! The store is cozy and is filled with lots of interesting, fun goods. Items that caught my eye: funny retro magnets, cute portable medication boxes, bracelets, oversized rings. Walking into the store, I didn’t intend to buy anything, but my interest and $$ got caught by the reasonably price earrings. I especially liked the laser-​cut wood earrings (made in the USA) near the cash register. The staff person working the store was helpful and friendly. Ah — going down memory lane with vaguely reminiscent and leaving with some cute earrings. My sister purchased cute earrings and a watch!

I love their stuff and have been going on and off for years, but I think this was my last visit. I am so over being chased around the store and nattered at by the manager/​owner who is always there. the rest of the staff is fantastic, but she is just so difficult. Someone in my neighborhood thought she was being racially profiled in the store because of how difficult the manager is, but it turns out that is just how she treats all people!
Luckily in Durham there are other places to get cool little gifts and things so I’m going to learn my lesson and spend my money there unless I hear they have had a staff change!

This store is a lot of fun! I’ve found some really unique gifts in here. They’ve got a great selection of funny cards, jewelry, and sweet knick-​knacks. You can also find some really eclectic clocks here too.
I’ve never really browsed at the clothes or shoes, but there is too much of everything else to look at to bother, unless you’re specifically going for clothes.
The space is small and tight. Luckily it hasn’t been too crowded when I’ve gone during the week. I’ve had different experiences with the staff. On one occasion the older woman (manager) was not putting out a very friendly vibe at all, but the other sales associates are always very pleasant. Today, however, the manager was very friendly and chatty. I guess it al depends on the day! Either way it’s a fun shop to visit every once in a while.

Happy New Year!!! And for my last review of the year… wandered into Vaguely Reminiscent to buy a hostess gift for the gal that was doing tonight’s NYE get-​together. Appropriately, VR has a little bit of everything for folks with a gift-​giving goal. Tiny plastic animals? Old school bell alarm clocks? Clothing and jewelry and gag gifts? Even pretty frames and fruit bowls. I got my friend one of the latter, and thought it reasonably priced, considering I’ve been lemming after comparable ones in the Moma store for more.
Based on previous reviews, I was nervous about the owner being aggressive. But there were several other shoppers in the store on a Saturday. (I should mention I did hear her pressure another older woman into putting her item up front at the register… despite the customer countering that she wasn’t sure she wanted to purchase that particular item). Based on that, I have to assume that the woman is not necessarily assuming shoplifting; but generally trying to offer a service, and help each customer find exactly what she’s looking for.
Great variety in a quirky shop I overheard another young couple refer to as «so Durham. Gawd, I love Durham.» Ditto.

Prices are probably higher than they need to be for the quality of their merchandise, but there are lots if fun things to find buried in this little shop. Great place for a gift for your girlfriends.

Local business — Yay.
Unfriendly — Boo.
Selling imported goods that could just as easily be items created by local crafters (albeit at higher cost) — Boo.
Cheap silly gifts (albeit made abroad and thus perhaps not completely sustainable or whatnot) — Yay.
A very nice older lady checked me out and the complimentary gift wrapping in their bag is quite nice, as Liana L. mentioned, but I wished I’d had the balls to bail on the purchase when I was already midway through paying for it because a worker who I came to realize was the owner was very rude and abrasive to me while I was in line to pay.
Dislike giving my money to businesses that don’t treat their customers well. Lesson learned.

It’s definitely kind of pricey, but it’s an excellent place to get gifts (or cute, pretty accessories for yourself). I’ve gotten random things here for friends, like a cat sharpener (you stick the pencil in its anus, and shavings come out its mouth: x), pretty lotus candles and pillboxes, little fragile glass animals, handbags, headbands, and other whimsical things that are conveniently all in one place.
The jewelry here is lovely, by the way. :) And the cards.
They also gift-​wrap, which is hugely helpful and awesome because their paper (and bags) are just as pretty as their products.

I know this store is locally owned so I try to go here to buy little gifts for my friends and relatives. When I want to round out that birthday package for my mom, I stop in here for a scarf or some earrings or a coin purse that says «I’m saving up for more electro-​shock therapy». You know, the essentials.
It’s been mentioned that the store is small and they have a lot of merch in a small space but the employees are CRAZY with their anti-​cell phone policy. Twice I have been told to get off my phone while in the store. (Yes, I should have remembered the second time but someone called me.) And not while I was trying to pay for something either, just while browsing. It’s their store and they can do what they want but it was a real turn off. And thus the 2 star rating. I don’t need to spend money to be reprimanded. As another coin purse they sell says: «I can call my mother for that».