A local secondhand gem celebrated its 10th anniversary in business this month. 

Located at 2015 Fairfax st.in Eau Claire, The Attic Vintage Marketplace and Consignment Store is home to thousands of antique and secondhand pieces sold by a multitude of vendors from around the Chippewa Valley.

It was opened in 2014 by Eau Claire natives Megan and John Glassbrenner. At its start, The Attic was home to mostly furniture and home decor. 

Now, it boasts a wide array of clothing, cookware, jewelry, vintage media, artwork and more. There is something new waiting around every corner.

“There’s truly something here for everyone,” said vendor Amy Kent. 

Kent has held a booth at The Attic for close to a year. She is one of over 60 vendors currently renting space at the marketplace. 

“A lot of startup businesses don’t last more than three or four years, but because of our business model we’ve been able to pull through,” Glassbrenner said. “Because of consignment and the vendors renting the space, the setup is a bit more sustainable.”

Glassbrenner said The Attic’s current format is not what she and her husband had originally envisioned. Initially, the two Eau Claire natives had the idea of opening a small furniture consignment store.

“We’d had our first baby and were looking to refurnish part of our house,” she said. “We were cleaning out some items from my mom’s garage, and we thought, ‘It would be great if there was a place to sell this furniture.’”

Prior to opening their establishment, Megan was a teacher’s aide and John was working as a salesman for Verizon. 

The two started The Attic with the intention of buying and rehabilitating old furniture, but when customers repeatedly asked about consignment options, they adapted their business model to accommodate those requests.

“Eventually, as the demand came in, we developed a contract where we felt comfortable that we were protected and our clients were getting a good deal,” Glassbrenner said. “The trend for our business has been adapting to fit the niches in the area,” 

Now, The Attic typically has between 15 and 20 consignors per month on top of their regular vendors. Glassbrenner said that the housing market in 2020 led to an increase in retail vendors. 

“We had to change up our model after demand for consignment went down. A lot fewer houses were on the market. Less people were looking for consignment opportunities,” Glassbrenner said. “My waiting list for vendors, though, was quite high.”

Today, 89% of the store’s inventory comes from vendors. 

Kent is one of these constituents. At her booth, Sister Soul Antiques, she sells a variety of antique and secondhand items. Kent said the tradition of buying and selling things secondhand runs in her family.

“I got into this because my mom had lots of antiques and she did this in the ‘90s,” Kent said. “I remember going to her booth at the time. Now that thrifting has made a revival again, I thought I’d try it myself.”

Kent said that her mother, who has now passed, had bins of antiques left over from her original booth. 

“My booth is actually a combination of my own items and my mom’s items. That’s why it’s Sister Soul — it’s my mom and I,” Kent said.

The Attic typically starts with a 90-day contract for vendors, with each seller receiving a percentage of the profits from their items. Glassbrenner said every item is personally curated by a staff member before they are put on the floor.

On any given week, The Attic’s staff of five people sorts through several hundred to a thousanditems. The majority of these staff members work part time at the store.

“Some places, you kind of have to dig for the treasure,” Glassbrenner said. “I want people to come around the corner and see a bunch of cool items.” 

Lori Fergusson, a first-time shopper at The Attic, said she enjoys the layout of the store. 

“It has a very wide, nicely displayed entryway,” she said. “I shop at a lot of thrift and vintage stores and am interested in a lot of things.”

According to Glassbrenner, the key to The Attic’s success as a small business is the ability to adapt with the market.

“There have been several times in our career where I was like, ‘I don’t have to sit in the same model all the time. If the market shifts, I have to shift with it in some way or another,’” she said.

Glassbrenner said she plans to keep The Attic open as long as there is interest in the community.

“We’ve been doing this to fill a need in the community. As long as people still come and are interested in shopping with us, then we’re going to keep doing it,” she said.

Wojahn can be reached at [email protected].