Retropolis

Did anyone see the South Park ‘Yelp’ episode? Ha, ha, it’s you Denise G. Wow, «old hag», «a pot in the back of the store»…Never mind that you never got over Hansel and Gretel. Do you somehow think you’ll never be old? I’m sure you wouldn’t be so mean as to insult people because of their age. .
The fabulous vintage expert owner of Retropolis and her artist and art teacher sister are both over 50. As are some of the vintage dealers who rent space in the shop. Some women are still alive over 50. Some support themselves in unique and creative ways. Women who can do that are very special. I’m sure you wouldn’t be insulting older women trying to earn a living…
Retropolis is a 5000 sq. ft. vintage store with a huge upstairs. Checking bags is a no-​brainer. Everyone is asked to do it. Of course, it’s not a perfect system. It’s not Macy’s. Even people who look like thugs (wtf does that mean?). Probably not the huge number of young guys of various skin colors who come in to buy the crazy popular vintage sports jerseys. I’m sure you didn’t mean that…
Your description of evil eyes and raised eyebrows or whatever it was leads me to believe that you have problems at home. Retropolis is THE top vintage store in Houston. No one would have singled you out for special treatment. Sorry.
I’m so glad you had a blast in the Heights redeeming your Groupon. I’m sure everyone was super happy to see you. Incredible that you’ve NEVER been so insulted by a business in your entire life. After writing such a mean review for a shop of normal people who may have flaws as opposed to a huge corporation, I’m sure you will be again…

Ummmm can I give it ZERO stars?! Better yet, NEGATIVE 5 stars? I have NEVER been so insulted by a business in my entire life. My friend and I had gone to the Heights to redeem a Groupon and decided to check out the area. We had a blast walking through the streets, browsing the various antique stores and novelty shops. Everyone was super nice, smiling and saying hello as they passed us on the street. We had just bought a couple of little items at a previous store and each of us had a bag as we walked in the rather crowded store. We were laughing about some of the merchandise that had been positioned right near the front door, and wondering if we wanted to go any further into the store. We decided we just had to check it out a little further. As we walked by the front counter, there were several ladies being checked out by a young woman, and at the end a very sour faced old lady. I really didn’t pay much attention to her as we started to pass her, until she rudely stepped in front of me and in a very sarcastic voice and a sour look on her face said, with one eyebrow cocked, «why don’t I HOLD your bag while you shop». The way she said it was very insulting. I was quite a taken back by the tone and look in her eyes and was, frankly, slightly stunned. I felt like she was insinuating something very ugly… like I was a thief. She also took my friends bag. I had intended to continue looking, but I just couldn’t get the tone of her voice and the look on her face when she approached me out of my mind. I turned around went back to the counter, and asked for my bag back and left. I will NEVER, EVER step foot in that store again. I don’t not have a problem with a store having a policy of outside bags need to be checked at the counter, but she didn’t seem interested in making anyone else check their bags. She was very nasty in the way she demanded my shopping bag, as if I was some low-​life thief. I have been in law enforcement for 15 years and have been married to a cop for 24 years. I really think the last thing I look like is a thief. I can’t imagine what she was basing her judgement on. I wasn’t dressed like a thug, wasn’t making a huge ruckus of any kind, I simply walked into the store from the street like every other person in that store. And I didn’t notice her eyeballing and stopping anyone else to take their bags. So, my opinion, don’t bother with this place. Skip it and skip the old hag behind the counter, or else you might end up in an oven at the back of the store.

This place rocks. The owner rocks. The stuff rocks. My only complaint is that it closes too early!

This place has too much stuff. They need to scale down the amount of merchandise they have to sell.

After several months I decided to give them a second try and guess what still filthy and disgusting

I stop by this shop about once every few months to check out what new pieces have been brought in by the many vendors.
I like rummaging through all of the vendors sections, and finding new pieces to add to my ever growing closet. i definitely have my favorites I prefer to go look at first though when I enter the store.
If you are new to town and need a vintage recommendation, I highly suggest this spot to find something special for your wardrobe.

This is one of my absolute favorite spots for vintage in Houston. I have been to a loooot of thrift stores and consignment shops, and this is definitely a great place. Because they host sellers, there is such a variety of items. You can find anything from any era of clothing. They have tons of items packed full. Although it can get a little messy, each individual seller has their own style in their section. Prices are definitely varied, but I have found some real gems here. The only bummy part is if you find something without a tag, they cannot sell it until the owner comes to price it. So they can only hold it for you, which could not be good if you don’t live in the area. The owners are friendly, and it’s in a very central Heights location!

I usually don’t like thrift/​consignment stores, but most of my experience has been with the ones along The Drag at UT where things are old, ugly, and expensive. But I desperately needed a petticoat for this weekend to go with my costume, and seeing as it’s Thursday, Amazon was out of the question even with a Prime membership.
The staff working at Retropolis are really nice and eager to help. I was having trouble finding a suitable petticoat (they have lots that are appropriate for wedding dresses, fyi), so was very happy when a lady organizing clothes offered to help. She led me through the racks, looking for something that matched what I needed. When she did find one, she even mentioned that the owner might give me a discount because there was a tear, and went to ask for me.
I didn’t look at much else since I had errands to run, but from my brief glance they do have some interesting things and the prices aren’t too bad. I’ll actually probably be back tomorrow for the authentic kimono I asked them to hold (I love that they hold items overnight).

Unlike a lot of stores in Houston that call themselves «vintage» but are nothing more than glorified thrift stores, this place has a nice assortment of genuine vintage. The downside is that the items are a bit overpriced. I saw this cute 80’s Mickey Mouse sweater but couldn’t bring myself to pay $ 30 for it. Funnily enough, I ended up purchasing a, not vintage, but «vintage inspired» dress from 1 of the venders whom sell their items in the store. I loved the dress, although it was a bit of a drag that I had to wait around 15 to 20 minutes to find out what the price of it was. The associate had to call then text message the owner to find out. I was confused on why the price wasn’t on the garment in the 1^st place … As for the clutter, it is overwhelming but I loved the atmosphere of this store with its old wooden floors and a creaky staircase. The staff were very friendly as well. I can’t see myself buying a multitude of items from here due to the prices, but I’ll defiantly stop by again for a few unique pieces to add to my wardrobe.

Liked this vintage store, especially since its hard to find a vintage store that actually sells vintage things. First floor has mostly accessories (bags, purses, scarves, costume type stuff, belts, jewelry in cases, sunglasses) along with some random furniture. Take the cowboy boot lined stairs up to the second floor, which is an overwhelming experience. Racks and racks of clothing arranged haphazardly. There is LOTS of interesting clothing to browse through along with lots of shoes, purses, hats, and more furniture. I was impressed by some of their vintage Coach purses which were in fair condition and on sale for prices cheaper than EBay. Not bad.

I have visited Retropolis several times and can honestly say I have never left without purchasing something. The places looks small and crowded from the outside but it is not. Once you get past the front entrances it opens up and has an entire giant 2^nd floor. That is the good part – size, variety and prices which are really reasonable.
The bad part, disorganized. This is due to it not really being one big store but multiple consignments. I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t have like items together so when I heard one of the employees talking about the other consignees, I got it. Another downside is that I don’t find the staff very friendly at all, kind of standoffish and indifferent. My daughter and I stood at the counter for a while and finally had to ask to look at some things in the case. One lady was eating a pot pie at the counter and didn’t give us the time of day. Just odd.
I do thing their variety and volume of selection is worth the trip. Plan to spend a lot of time looking. It took my daughter and I almost 2 hours to go through the place. We always end up finding something, despite the staff’s attitude. Another thing about this place is that is feels dusty and I had a sneezing fit when I got to a section that smelled of moth balls, kind of standard things for real vintage which Retropolis is.

This is probably the biggest thrift store I’ve ever been to. The other reviewers weren’t kidding when they said it was lacking in organization. There are tons and tons of racks and boxes of things strewn about both upstairs and downstairs and it was like an attic on steroids. However at the same time, that was also what I sort of enjoyed about this place because you can literally stay in the store for hours just looking through everything and not get bored! There were a lot of funky and costumey things, old vinyl, dresses, coats, mens suits, and everything in between. As overwhelming as this store is, I really liked it and still plan on visiting next time I’m in town.

I’m not a «wear vintage clothes daily» kind of person, but I appreciate it. I was in the area, so I decided to give Retropolis a try. The prices are very reasonable, and the selection is great. If you need a costume for any period party, you can find it here. I also like the cowboy boot selection. I didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without, but it was a nice way to spend some time digging and laughing.

Removing a star because of the lack of organization and the overwhelming fashion of the store layout. There is stuff everywhere.
I will give it 4 stars though because if you are looking for some particular vintage colorful costume-​type item, you will probably find it here if you have the time and patience.

Don’t be deceived by how small it appears outside. I didn’t even bother going in the first time I saw Retroplis because I was afraid it was one of those awkward shops that you get stared at the whole time you’re in it. But it’s so not. I love this place! I can’t believe it took me this long to find it considering how much I love vintage/​thrift stores.
First of all, I know it’s dorky, but I’ve been looking for a troll for years. Everytime I find one it’s way over priced. They were my favorite toy when I was a kid. I got one here for $ 3!
My husband is a tie fanatic and so I was so thrilled to see all the awesome ties they had. I wanted to buy him so many different ones! They have awesome shoes, clothes, and accessories. This NOT an antiques store. They do have some stuff but I love that it’s not stupid trinkets.
I can’t wait to go back with more money and more time because there are definitely some fuzzy dice calling my cars name!

I used to all about thrift stores in my high school days. And I meant like for really real thrift stores. This place specializes more so in nostalgia thrift shopping — hence the «retro» in its name. I am not too much a fan of polyester. Perhaps this is why I didn’t much love this place. Also paying close to retail for used clothes — yeah I don’t care if it’s super rare now, blah blah blah — thanks, but no thanks!
This store is a very efficient use of space. They’ve got clothes jam-​packed in every which corner and cranny.
There’s definitely some way adorable stuff, but I just feel so overwhelmed every thumbing through the racks. There seems to be a system of classifying clothes by decade and/​or style, but it’s all very perplexing to me. A lot of vintage designer wear, but as with all vintage clothing — beware of random stains and shoddy fabric and clasp/​zipper/​etc. re-​working.
Dressing rooms — well there’s two tiny man-​made (albeit, very very poorly) tent-​like structures by the stairs you can cram yourself into. Not very stable. .. beware of silly kids randomly lifting up the curtains (like my friend’s daughter, it was a bit hilarious though).
A really score of a place if you’re into vintage wear. Even better if you’ve allocated at least an hour or two to combing through the mounds and mounds of mismatched/​placed clothes. I don’t particularly adore this place, but I’d probably head here again if I needed some «dated» dress for a costume party or whatever!

I don’t think I’ve ever came here looking for something in specific, but with each experience here, I’ve walked out with the most random of things: a brioche, a clutch, a Bob Dylan Greatest Hits record…
Retropolis is a shopping spot that you can easily fill your entire closet, or just add missing pieces here and there to perfect your wardrobe. I especially love their colorful cowboy boots, purses and vintage dresses. And when I say «vintage,» I mean it. I’ve found that some resale boutiques either just have a lot of old, scrappy crap, or designer pieces that some rich lady just didn’t want anymore. That’s not vintage — that’s just last season!
You can find anything for yourself, or a gift that’s age appropriate for every contact in your phone. I like the people running the shop too. Sweet with a passion for keeping Houston beautiful (and funky, eclectic, fashionable, etc.) all at a fair price.
The only downside is that it can get hot in there, even with just a handful of people shopping around; and yes, there is just too much stuff to sift through. Definitely devote some time to browse or else you’ll be completely overwhelmed.

Was very happy with my purchases at this place. 7 great vintage shirts for $ 60, including tax… not bad.
This place is not a single store, but rather a space that is used by various vendors who sell vintage clothing and collectibles. It definitely has a bit of a heaped together feel and you really need to spend some time digging through stuff. Neat concept, but don’t go here if you are in a rush.
The gentleman working the counter was very friendly and helpful. He gave me a little road map of the store and agreed to stay open an extra five minutes while I waited for my friend to come tell me what shirts were worth buying.
I recommend.

Retropolis has a LOT of stuff. Two levels of purses, shoes, shirts, dresses, pants, petticoats… if it’s old, they’ve probably got it. But a byproduct of so much variety is that you REALLY have to dig. And dig and dig and dig and dig and… well, you get the picture. There wasn’t any discernible order from what I could tell – no separation by era, by size, or by type of clothing. Each rack is OVERSTUFFED, which means you’re getting an upper body workout with your shopping experience by wrestling each piece out of the tangle of coathangers to examine something worth a second look. I don’t have a ton of patience to paw through stacks of clothes that aren’t my taste and likely aren’t my size, so Retropolis kind of disappointed me in that regard.
That’s not to say I didn’t find anything on my visit there – I walked out of Retropolis with a gorgeous cashmere cardigan from the 1950’s. It’s beaded around the front placket, the cuffs and collar, with pearl buttons, and once I was able to find a mirror in the maze of clothing racks to see how it looked, I realized it fit me like a dream (really rare for vintage sizes). The only reason I spotted it was because someone had left it laying out in the open. Otherwise I wouldn’t have ever noticed it.
The staff is super sweet and complimented me on my choice as I was checking out, which caused us to chat a little bit – turns out someone else had eyed my sweater and decided against it, which is why I found it chilling out by itself. I guess she didn’t feel like shoving it back into the messy rack. I really want to like Retropolis – I just wish things were a little better organized in the big space that they have.

Devote a few hours to this store; you’ll easily spend them here.
First of all, I love the space. Old building, wood floors, wood staircase. Wonderful vibe. Lots of shopping niches and cubby holes.
Downstairs is easily my favorite floor. Jewelry from costume to re-​styled. More clutch purses than you could imagine.
Upstairs are the clothes and majority of knick-​knacks. Like an exceptionally good quality Goodwill where everything is great. Essentially you are sifting through a huge floor of THE perfect awesome thing after the best thing EVER.