Photography by Lauren Allen
Items someone once loved — a sequin-bodice ball gown, bronze sgraffito Buddha bookends or a ’70s-era rattan chaise lounge, for example — are washed and polished, staged with care and awaiting a second chance at Rose Garden ReMake, an expansive, low-ceilinged affair at the ground level of a repurposed Oak Cliff factory.
For more than 20 years, Kelly Wiley has owned the eclectic thrift store, which originated on Davis Street and relocated to Tyler Station. A preferred destination of Oak Cliff’s savviest art, home-decor and vintage-clothing hunters, Rose Garden includes a sewing shop where Wiley and employees make aprons and pillows and reupholster furniture using fabric (mostly denim, because it lasts forever) from unsold merchandise.
Secondhand shopping has been a sport in Oak Cliff forever, but the re-commerce ecosystem has flourished markedly in the past couple years.
A W magazine headline last fall read, “The Future of Fashion is in the Past.” CNBC broadcast a prime-time package about the “Thrifting Craze.”
According to a 2022 study by researchers at Lawn Love, Dallas (based on the number of stores and related Google searches) ranks No. 12 for second-hand shopping on their list of 200.
June Park, a professor at Oklahoma State University’s Department of Design and Housing, commenting on the study, explains the environmental and social benefits of shopping used.
“You are closing the loop by reusing material goods, and it’s a good way to support your community, because many thrift stores are locally based small businesses, and a sizable portion of their earnings goes to charity,” Park says.
Case in point, Wiley created Rose Garden ReMake to support the 2000 Roses Foundation, a nonprofit she co-founded in 1999 to assist formerly incarcerated women, especially victims of abuse and addiction.
Not only do shop profits fund a transitional living center and supportive services, but Rose Garden also employs the women, who learn retail sales, entrepreneurship, sewing and the importance of recycling and sustainability, Wiley says.
A study by the upscale online vintage furniture reseller Chairish showed home furnishings is the largest sector of the entire resale market. Sales hit $15 billion in 2021 and are expected to accelerate to $22 billion by 2027.
Chairish CEO Gregg Brockway points out that supply chain issues associated with the pandemic also had shoppers turning to pre-owned furniture.
“Vintage items aren’t subject to rising prices or material and production delays,” Brockway says. “They already exist and are ready to be shipped or picked up.”
Rose Garden checks all the feel-good boxes, but it’s not the only place in the neighborhood to buy pre-owned.
We asked Oak Cliff residents about their favorites. Several named Rose Garden, describing Wiley as “creative” and “amazing.” What follows are a few more recommendations from locals.
Dolly Python is a big brand on the Dallas vintage scene. Neighborhood resident Gretchen Bell opened the original in East Dallas in 2005. It has blossomed into a 3,800-square-foot emporium featuring 30 dealers and consignors who, according to Bell, “restock and edit their booths almost daily.”
A smaller version, Dolly on Bishop, opened in 2019. A window display there involves an androgynous mannequin in a New Wave-y blonde wig wearing a western-style gingham shirt and backlit by a 4-foot Lifesaver candy sign. Leather cowboy boots and a light-up electric guitar flank the model. Signs in the window advertise “Tarot readings $25” and “Please don’t say dammn when you hear the price.”
“That window tells you all you need to know,” says Melissa Knox, a fan. “If you love retro, vintage, preservation, history, this is a must-visit in Oak Cliff.”
7__8 (7 space 8) is a design-district-style furniture reseller new to the TYPO shopping area. Jackson Robertson, a photographer by trade, and his girlfriend Lexee LaRue, recently opened a storefront on Tyler for the rare, high-end pieces they have collected during their travels. Robertson is passionate about finding valuable old products with great potential.
“Furniture from the past, for the future. That’s our motto,” he says.
The shop is bigger than the loft apartment in East Dallas where they’ve been storing their finds, but much smaller than, say, Lula B’s, which just means it’s more painstakingly curated, he says.
About a chair in which one can imagine Andy Warhol sitting, Robertson says: “It’s so futuristic, yet it’s many decades old.” He says he and LaRue became obsessed with finding these beautiful pieces, bringing them back to life and sharing them.
“Some of this stuff holds way more value than many of the things you find new, and it will hold its value,” he says.
Because inventory is so unique, he also sometimes lends it out to other photographers or filmmakers as set pieces.
“To not only keep stuff from going to the dumps, but also getting to repurpose it and give it a new life in people’s houses or wherever, it feels great.”
Retired interior designer Judy Carpenter has a booth at Lula B’s, a bazaar boasting all manner of antiques, clothing and furniture from past eras. She and several others highly recommend the Fort Worth Avenue warehouse for a variety of vintage finds. She says she has moved from Oak Cliff but still returns to shop at our variety of thrift stores.
“Oak Cliff has my heart,” she says. “This is a great place to find treasures. So much history here.”
Sarah Marguccio is an interior designer who uses all thrifted and repurposed items in her work.
“I’m looking around these Oak Cliff (vicinity) thrift stores daily,” she says.
Her “go-tos” are Delia’s Place (915 Jefferson), PB&J Thrift (912 Jefferson), Habitat for Humanity (2800 North Hampton), Orr Reed (1903 Rock Island) and Thrift Mart (2819 Illinois).
She says she also scours the bulk trash. Oak Cliff people dispose of some “great vintage items and architecture.”
She’s not alone in these recommendations. When it comes to treasure hunting with a high chance of reward, Jefferson Boulevard is the place to go, say several Oak Cliff thrifters. Seconding Delia’s, shopper Van Gie says, “[Delia] always has great furniture pieces, including patio furniture.”
Park near Delia’s on a weekday, and shop until sundown at a number of highly recommended resale shops including Yesi Thrift Store, Urban Thrift, Mini Bazaar, Brianna’s Home Decor Thrift Shop and, for used books, Lucky Dog Books.
Relocate to the opposite end of Jefferson, past Zang, for garage-sale-style shops. These not-formally named spaces are bursting at corners with furniture and other finds, and the proprietors are poised to bargain (haggling is not necessary, but acceptable, regulars advise).
“If you haven’t toured the thrift shops of Jefferson, it’s a must. You will find anything,” says shopper Marci Garrott, who also suggests Thrift Town on Westmoreland and — her preferred method — shopping and selling among neighbors on Nextdoor.com.
Angela Cruz is one of a few Oak Cliff residents to discover a side (or primary) hustle collecting and re-selling found furniture. Several neighbors recommend her services. She will pick up unwanted items that she shines up to sell through yard sales, her Facebook page or at local shops.
Cruz says she started selling in her front yard when she needed to earn some money after her husband was unable to relocate from Mexico. Now, she says, “thanks to all the donations given to me by the Oak Cliff people, I have been able to provide for my family.”
Look her up on Facebook or email maciasgigi79@gmail.com if you have items to sell or wish to see her inventory.
