Fashion doesn’t exist in a vacuum — it’s an expression of a person’s identity and reflects their interests, passion and evolution through their life. Which is why the owners of new thrift shop Gallery Market decided they were going to make the space more than just a vintage store.
In late August, Steffen Carlino (behind online vintage shop From the Vault) and Jacob Sparks (behind Passe Shop) marked the opening of their new space with a giveaway that included vintage Toronto Raptors merch and a pair of tickets to a Raptors game this season, and Sparks says these giveaways and community events will continue.
“We are always going to offer some fun additional activations and giveaways to make the event a little more exciting than just shopping,” he says, citing a recent event where they hosted a MarioKart tournament and gave the winner a GameCube to take home.
Free gifts aside, the selection of vintage pieces was an important aspect of Gallery Market. “We carry a very thoughtfully curated selection of clothing and accessories from the 1930s all the way up to the Y2K era,” Sparks says. “Think the best T-shirts around as well as vintage work wear, military gear, European workwear from the mid-century era, early designer items, as well as retro video games and media such as VHS, CDs and cassette tapes.”
Sparks and Carlino also felt like incorporating a market for vendors and artisans every other weekend was important to build a community. “An accessible and affordable pop-up space for local dealers, makers and artisans is something this city was really hungry for,” he says. “The legacy markets here are amazing but [they] are very difficult to have the opportunity to participate in and don’t have the cheapest vendor fees around.”
Gallery Market is located at 688 Richmond St. W., Unit 204, and it’s open from 12–7 p.m., Tuesday to Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Follow their Instagram to keep an eye out for future themed markets.