Antique Mall of West Seattle

Walked in and was rudely told they’re closed. An hour before closing time. With the doors wide open. When I asked if they weren’t usually open until 7pm as advertised on most websites like Google or Unilocal the guy just said sometimes, depending on how many people were there. He followed up to say that they don’t have a website that advertises that. If that’s how you want to do business, or rather lose it, fine. That’s the last time I (and perhaps others) drive out here to potentially buy something from them.

OMG. Is this real life? Has the fire department visited this joint? It’s like stepping into the worst episode of Hoarders ever. Junk mixed in with cool stuff — insane amounts of it — basically these people hit the Goodwills and Vincent St. Pauls and hike the prices up astronomically! It’s so insane how do they stay in business? Who is shopping here? How is this even legal lol!
NEVER will I dare even walk on the same side of the street as that weird, toxic energy place.

Well they are NOT open until 7pm. We got there at 5:40pm today and the woman told us we can’t come in because they close at 6pm. They apparently don’t let people in after 5:40, she said because the cash register is closed. Very odd, and unpleasant. They need to update their business hours to reflect when they are actually open for business.

It started out with promise: a man sitting out front of the Antique Mall, smiling at us passers by on California Avenue. He nods, I nod, and so decide to take a meander, after all, I LOVE a good bit of antiquing, and I’d never been to this 3-​levels of hopefully antique + vintage delights. From the get go, it was crowded and jammed packed, hard to maneuver about. Wall to wall, rack upon rack of stuff upon stuff. I spy a leopard hat, as well as the cashier as they are nearly parallel to each other; the hat says hello, the cashier however does not. I guess he was very busy with something that had nothing to do with concerns about customer service.
So I spot the hat, make my way over to it. It’s missing a price tag. I also see that the cashier, a mere few feet away, is much to busy for me to ask about it. And so, I put the hat back, EXACTLY WHERE I FOUND IT, and pressed onward.
After all, there are loads of other stuff to look at. I’m at the next booth over when the cashier finally addresses me. His intent is not to meet and greet, exactly, but rather somewhat awkwardly, rather pointedly, nearly accuse me of shop lifting, Yes, he is DEMANDING to know where that hat is. I’m a bit stunned, but I tell him the hat is where I found it. An unbelieving «where?» is sputtered all over me. I point over to it, it’s in our direct line of view. I point towards the hat, and point, and point and point, until at last he sees it. Appeased, and without apology or grace, he wordlessly ambles back to his all consuming whatever business he’s doing at the cash register.
Next stop, the upstairs floor. As there is ample inventory in this place; you are sure to find something to be enthralled with. I stumbled upon a nest of killer vintage clothing, but the items are jammed and crammed so tightly together, I found it hard to sort, and when I did happen upon a great something or other, the prices made me blink. I felt like the vendors mistakenly mistook thier venue for a very posh-​y vintage boutique headquartered in some great metropolitan city, not in this puddle wonderful whistle stop that is California Ave in West Seattle. $ 400 for a 3-​piece suit jammed in between two 1980s sweaters priced at $ 39 a pop? I’m going to go out of a limb here and guess that not a lot of the stuff in this mall actually sells.
After all, these days you can find anything your heart desires in a myriad of venues, online, and off, from possibly any other Antique mall in Anytown USA. And so, I wonder, for these crazy sky high prices, what are you getting? And so, cranky-can’t-be-bothered-cashier of the Antique Mall of West Seattle, what do you think you are offering? Surely NOT a lovely retail experience, complete with charming clerks and complimentary tea. Nor are you getting a delight of the senses with savvy store merchandising, vintage vignettes crafted to inspire. Would ya be surprised this place was devoid of shoppers? I spied less than a half dozen people milling about this vintage hinterland in the space of an hour.
I did manage to find something worth its $ 15 price tag. And Mr Cranky McCrank-​Crank sullenly rung up my item. Not bothering to offer me a bag for the item, he did manage to observe upon the heaviness of it, his tone insinuating perhaps that I ought to have selected something more lightweight, say the vintage leopard hat I originally tried on, the one without a price tag, the one that he seemed to think that I had pocketed.
I fought off the urge to apologize for NOT choosing something less cumbersome and unwieldy to purchase. But I won’t be sorry that I won’t be coming back.

Annoyed because I drove here only to find them closed. Another poor lady walked in the rain… after somebody telling her they’re open til 7pm. Hours online say they should be open. The two stars are for when it is open it’s a good place to kill time. Mostly a junk shop, I have never found anything amazing.

I agree with most of the reviews posted; overpriced ítems, clutter, unmarked ítems, but what put the dent on my visit was that the guy with the pony tail spent the whole 20+ minutes I was in there singing, out load, to 1920s songs from NPR… not to hinself, but LOUD AS HELL. I went over to the counter to pay for a «Seattle MLB ALL-​Star game“pin (about $ 1.50), and he would not stop singing. Finally a younger girl came over and took care of it. I wil gladly skipp it next time. There are better shops around to visit.

It’s okay. I have a good time here because it is huge!!! Middle down n upstairs. There’s lots of stuff and I like to dig. It’s not too clean or organized. I rarely buy because it’s too expensive but all in all I think it’s fun to look around for hours!

We had gone for many years to buy wonderful items with the old owners. Not every again. Over-​over-​priced with lots of junk. As Emma said below (and my hubby echoed) the new owners ARE hoarders.
They were decorating for the Season when they opened so there was lots of dangerous materials around and no help! Guess they never heard of doing background work on their off time. And the few items we thought we would go for but did not have tags (old iron gates leaning in two areas) were being use for decorating amongst the JUNK since «they do not make them anymore”= HUH??? Or already sold– without a sold tag=way way HUH???
Not sure where we will go now– great shops along the Junction will ease our spirits until we get the antique urge… But do not go here– they just are not what they were or could be~ the pics here are not the MESS you will encounter (must be from the way back time or set ups). I think I have NOW earned good karma letting my fellow lovers of the vintage know of this NOW strange place.

Everything is priced like it’s a real antique when it’s really not and should be just a few dollars at the Goodwill with some nicer used items available too.
One can do much better at a thrift store, estate sale or Craigslist for what they have to offer here.
I didn’t interact with any of the staff — didn’t see any in fact.

It’s full of overpriced garbage. Don’t waste your time. As for the customer service? The old lady with the short hair and glasses asked me to put my backpack away by the register. Kind of shady considering moments later I saw 2 different people walk in carrying bigger bags than I did but they were allowed to shop through. The guy with the ponytail didn’t seem to take issue with it when I walked by him 3 times.
You couldn’t pay me to take any of that garbage home. Walked by the clothing and they were selling a tiny knitted jumpsuit for almost $ 20! It had holes everywhere. Dang!

Antique Mall of West Seattle — 3 floors of jam packed over priced rubbish. It’s like taking a walk through a creepy, hoarders house.
The basement is so over-​stuffed with rubbish piled on-​top of each other that when you do figure out what you are looking at, you realize that: YES… you are looking at a bunch of head-​less/​limb-​less dolls and random plastic toy arms FOR SALE!!! Piles and piles of them, I would have thought I was looking through trash had it not been for the ‘for sale’ signs
I ventured out of the basement and checked out the main floor and then top, it took me about 10 minutes after viewing items that you start to think the owners are having a joke at your expense for selling, such as:
–A hand mannequin with stuck on nails!
–A massive stuffed (grandma-​made) spider man villain cartoon character
–The best buy… The endless supply of broken/​burnt (must-​have vintage benches — YAWN) a steal at $ 120 average.
The highlight was a half damaged (rotten) old Dr’s bag, this thing had 1 handle and half of it had rotted away, it was disgusting, plus it had some cartoon toy sticking out of it… if you think that is an antique — This is the shop for you!

Don’t get me wrong, I do love digging around in antique stores to find treasures and deals. However, this place doesn’t do it for me. Most of the stuff seems a bit overpriced. And the customer service isn’t great either. Many times I have been completely ignored or it seems like I’m bothering the staff when I ask for a quote on an item.

I had to update my review, as we recently went into this store again just to kill some time. Not only did we see the same exact mannequin from two years ago (still not sold, surprise, surprise), but we also found a used Starbucks mug on sale for $ 19.50. The kicker is, we bought the same exact mug brand new at Starbs for approx. $ 10 back in 2009! Please tell me how that is good business. Laughably ridiculous.
Oh — and the male behind the counter (I think the owner) brought his two yappy dogs to work and they barked our entire visit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a dog lover, but having your dogs barking the entire time people shop is highly unprofessional and just plain annoying.

Many vendors selling off old collections. Interesting variety, I must say. They have unique and bazaar items that you’d think came from a surplus outlet, too. (Mannequin fingers!?)
We scored some old, *true antique* cocoa tins. Not too easy to come by unless you cheat the hunt and shop online and pay top mucho dinero.
Aside from a lucky find, prices can be exaggerated. $ 50 for a busted up pic nic basket that’s dated only from the 90’s? I’ll go shopping in my Grandma’s storage for that, thanks.
I’d say this is a hit or miss. Still fun to browse, though. Worth a shot. I’m sure we will be back. (Never know when we’ll need some extra mannequin fingers.)

Does the idea of digging through a large-​sized warehouse of other people’s old things sound appealing to you? Can you navigate cramped, relatively dusty and somewhat disorganized spaces with grace and ease? Then you will love the Antique Mall! So much stuff packed into three levels of random items that once belonged to random people! Even if you hate antiques and malls and crowded spaces and everything else, I promise you there will be at least a few items that you find weird/​fascinating/​rare enough to stop you in your tracks. Like a medieval archer’s mask that was hand-​sculpted out of molten metal, or a vintage dressform that was used by a famous clothing designer in the 70’s (both of which I happened across the last time I was at the AMWS.)
But, don’t let the fact that the stuff is old and used fool you. It isn’t a Goodwill, after all. Most of it is relatively pricey, presumably because it’s been chosen and displayed for its historic/​rare/​adjusted market value. If only I were a a professional antique dealer or appraiser… but I’m not. I’m pretty much clueless and have to believe in the handwritten pricetags, which told me that the archer’s mask was was $ 400 and the dressform was $ 175 (even though the entire left hip was crumbled and almost completely deteriorated.) Oh, and I remember a little marble elephant that was $ 1,500. Possibly made by a famous sculptor or containing some precious stones? Who knows? I found it behind a vintage birdcage and it looked pretty cool.
Still, you can’t put a price on the fun of looking (yes, you can, and it’s free.) I think the Antique Mall is worth checking out. even if you don’t think you’re interested or it isn’t your kinda thing, you might be surprised what you find.

One star for all the neat stuff they have there. This place is like walking through your hoarder grandma’s home, minus the dead cats and roaches. Most everything is waaaay over-​priced, which is probably why there’s so much stuff just sitting there. I would hate to be there during an earthquake…
Anyhow, I felt compelled to write this review after something my husband and I witnessed during today’s visit. While browsing we overheard one of the employees (woman of a certain age) ask an unassuming female shopper to, «please keep your purse zipped shut while you’re in here.» The shopper was clearly taken aback by the request asked, «what do you mean?» to which the employee again said, «keep your purse zipped while you are in here. «The shopper then said that her purse WAS zipped close and the style of the purse may look like it was open, but it wasn’t. I was absolutely appalled and disgusted at this employee’s behavior. Immediately after hearing this, I told my husband I was ready to leave.
I felt so bad for that other shopper and it took a lot for me to not say something. If I had, it wouldn’t have been very nice. Instead, I decided to write this review to let others know that if they go into this shop, they may be treated like potential criminals. We won’t be going back, that’s for sure.

This place is bursting at the seams with awesome stuff. There is literally stuff on top of stuff and it’s all for sale. The problem is it is all horribly priced. I’m not talking about «oh, these are antiques and you have no idea of the value» overpriced. I mean these are the people that raid the Goodwill and take all the cool shit and then mark it up 500%. Really is quite sad.

Incredible selection of antiques and vintage items. They have what I call «usable» antiques. For example, an antique wood spice rack that can be installed in the kitchen and add charm, rather than a coffee mug that says «Mary and Robert, Married 3-​16-​1978.» That’s the best way I can describe it anyway.
They have furniture for different décor types, vintage jewelry, copper cookware, silverplate utensils, clothing, and more. I usually go around the entire store twice because there’s always something you’ll miss the first time around that will catch your eye. Prices are pretty good!

I absolutely love this place. I work nearby, so quite often will stop in during my lunch break to take a peek around. It is impossible to search the entire store in less than a half hour. There are so many different items, from clothes, shoes and hats, to furniture, dolls and pots.
I stop in at least once a week and there are ALWAYS new items. I have purchased 3 different hats from them, glasses, shirts and shoes. While some items may seem a little pricier than one would expect, they quite often have extremely nice deals. Some places may call themselves an antique shop if they have. old items. This place has some very nostalgic items from 80’s and 90’s but actually earn the the right to be titled an antique shop by actually having. antiques!

Ok I NEVER swear in reviews (ok at least almost never) but the only thing I can think of to describe this place is HOLY SHIT! I went in looking for vintage clothing and I certainly found it and at AMAZING prices!!!
Admitedly you have to dig furiously through layers upon layers of crap and chotchkeys alike to get to the good stuff I will assure you the good stuff was there, hiding but there nonetheless. The clothes are upstairs and on the main floor (mostly) and consist of aprons, hats, shirts, dresses, jackets, shoes, pants, skirts and much much much more.
When I said the prices were good let me tell you how good… i went there today and persued a deal. I found one. On the upper floor. A white genuine rabbit fur coat, in perfect condition for $ 42! I’m not a freak for fur but i have to admit this really was beautiful and i wanted it but I did not get it for numerous reasons (1. I’d feel bad wearing it, and 2. it wouldn’t look real on me)… also on the second floor i found a MINK coat for $ 45… yes it was real mink trust me.
I’ll be back… possibly tomorow if i change my mind about that coat.