Urban Ore
900 Murray St. Berkeley, CA 94710
Mon-Sat 8:30am-7pm; Sun 10am-7pm
900 Murray St. Berkeley, CA 94710
Mon-Sat 8:30am-7pm; Sun 10am-7pm
Thrift Stores are great. Garage sales are amazing. Flea Markets can be pretty fun. Urban Ore is...
...a garage sale on steroids
there's something about milling around, searching for the perfect household item that belonged to someone else that's just grand. not only is the thing you are searching for usually unknown to you at the time, but the thing when you eventually find it is going to have a story, a history, and probably be better made (pre-70's usually means quality). it's what makes thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets, and now salvage warehouses (aka urban ore) one of my favorite pastimes. and urban ore knows how to bring it on. this place is BIG. they have chairs, furniture, cooking wares, records, books, clothes, bath tubs, doors, door knobs, door hinges, door stops, windows, lights, etc. that you could easily spend a whole day looking for absolutely nothing - and be happy. the mission of urban ore is to salvage stuff before it's sent to the landfill. makes sense and i like it. i love urban ore.
...vintage shopping on the cheap
so this place has its fair share of 'vintage' items that are still a bit too pricey for my pocket, but nonetheless are cheaper than the places on valencia (hispterville) street. so if you're looking for some old ass dinning room set from the 50's this is your place. you might have to clean the cobwebs and fix a wobbly leg - but that's what'll make it yours.
...dumpster diving without the burger king wrappers
while i've never dived in the dumpster, i've always thought romantically of the practice. free stuff is cool, especially when you don't have to steal it (well technically you are stealing i guess...silly laws) and you're helping out the environment too. urban ore's outside area is a bit like dumpster diving. there are broken bits of glass everywhere, rotting chairs thrown about, and more doors and toilet bowls than you could ever imagine. it's amazing. unlike the 'vintage' goods on the inside of the warehouse, the outside area seems to house the cheaper items that haven't been priced yet. for instance take our first visit to urban ore. we found 4 awesome school chairs that definitely needed some tlc, but had a good set of bones. each priced at $3. good deal, we bought one (we're idiots and didn't buy the other 3...i'm still sad about this). next visit to urban ore - the $3 chairs were obviously sold, but some almost identical, a little cleaner sister versions of the chairs were now stored in the inside area - price: $45! ridic. yeah, still cheaper than vintage shops or even ikea (wooden chairs are pricey!), but nothing like that $3 beauty we found. i like the outside area. i like cheap goods that need help and make beautiful.
...what being lucky is all about
the best thing about thrift stores and garage sales is that when you find something awesome, you feel awesomely lucky. you don't usually feel that way when you're shelling out benjies at the flea market or vintage shop. urban ore's outside and sometimes inside areas give you that rush. on our last venture into the unknown we stumbled upon an awesome wooden bench. thing cost $15 and now we have a place to eat in the kitchen. every time i sit down i get that - damn, i'm lucky - kind of feeling. life needs more of that.
...a garage sale on steroids
there's something about milling around, searching for the perfect household item that belonged to someone else that's just grand. not only is the thing you are searching for usually unknown to you at the time, but the thing when you eventually find it is going to have a story, a history, and probably be better made (pre-70's usually means quality). it's what makes thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets, and now salvage warehouses (aka urban ore) one of my favorite pastimes. and urban ore knows how to bring it on. this place is BIG. they have chairs, furniture, cooking wares, records, books, clothes, bath tubs, doors, door knobs, door hinges, door stops, windows, lights, etc. that you could easily spend a whole day looking for absolutely nothing - and be happy. the mission of urban ore is to salvage stuff before it's sent to the landfill. makes sense and i like it. i love urban ore.
...vintage shopping on the cheap
so this place has its fair share of 'vintage' items that are still a bit too pricey for my pocket, but nonetheless are cheaper than the places on valencia (hispterville) street. so if you're looking for some old ass dinning room set from the 50's this is your place. you might have to clean the cobwebs and fix a wobbly leg - but that's what'll make it yours.
...dumpster diving without the burger king wrappers
while i've never dived in the dumpster, i've always thought romantically of the practice. free stuff is cool, especially when you don't have to steal it (well technically you are stealing i guess...silly laws) and you're helping out the environment too. urban ore's outside area is a bit like dumpster diving. there are broken bits of glass everywhere, rotting chairs thrown about, and more doors and toilet bowls than you could ever imagine. it's amazing. unlike the 'vintage' goods on the inside of the warehouse, the outside area seems to house the cheaper items that haven't been priced yet. for instance take our first visit to urban ore. we found 4 awesome school chairs that definitely needed some tlc, but had a good set of bones. each priced at $3. good deal, we bought one (we're idiots and didn't buy the other 3...i'm still sad about this). next visit to urban ore - the $3 chairs were obviously sold, but some almost identical, a little cleaner sister versions of the chairs were now stored in the inside area - price: $45! ridic. yeah, still cheaper than vintage shops or even ikea (wooden chairs are pricey!), but nothing like that $3 beauty we found. i like the outside area. i like cheap goods that need help and make beautiful.
...what being lucky is all about
the best thing about thrift stores and garage sales is that when you find something awesome, you feel awesomely lucky. you don't usually feel that way when you're shelling out benjies at the flea market or vintage shop. urban ore's outside and sometimes inside areas give you that rush. on our last venture into the unknown we stumbled upon an awesome wooden bench. thing cost $15 and now we have a place to eat in the kitchen. every time i sit down i get that - damn, i'm lucky - kind of feeling. life needs more of that.
image via - you guessed it - google!
(i'm always too excited about the places i find to remember to take pictures in between all the discoveries...call me lame or lazy)
(i'm always too excited about the places i find to remember to take pictures in between all the discoveries...call me lame or lazy)
i know and love that feeling!
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