stellar shops: treasures on main

Treasures on Main, located conveniently (for me) near downtown La Crosse, is a little over two blocks away from my house. I've found that it's really soothing for me to just wander in this quiet, calm converted house just to kill time. I've only ever bought a set of 70s-era floral suitcases there during last summer's Maxwell Street days, but I find a lot of inspiration there nevertheless.

Treasures on Main
722 Main St.
La Crosse, WI 54601

One reason why I probably enjoy Treasures on Main so much is that there are always between 4-7 cats inside. The owners rehabilitate abused, abandoned, neglected and special needs cats and find them homes - I've seen every age from mewling kitten to sly adult traipsing about. 

Treasures has three floors of well-organized vintage goods. Let me be your tour guide.

Treasures on Main feels more like a house than a shop, so walking around unbothered lends the feeling of being in an ancient great-aunt's house, one who has random objects filling up each room; the mystery of the objects' origins and uses is incontestable.  

This carnation pink is possibly one of my favorite colors in the world. (This is the seat cushion for a chair.)

While I was wandering in and out of rooms upstairs, I felt something rub up against me. This fellow--Monsieur is what I named him--was the culprit! After spending about 5 minutes wrapped around my ankles, he slinked off elsewhere and I went back to my photographing, distraction-free.

Stout is just such an unflattering word, don't you think? These women don't exactly look "stout" to me...

BAM! I turned around at one point and Monsieur was sitting docilely at the table, looking balefully at me as though he wanted to share a cup of tea with me. It was the most adorable instance of my entire day. I should add that Neil is obsessed with this picture; he even framed it and gave it to me for my birthday! (Interjection - I want a cat so bad. We want a cat so bad.) Eventually Monsieur slunk away again, and I saw him disappear into a cupboard as I continued to explore other rooms.

$20 for this Better Homes and Gardens cookbook? You've got to be kidding me. I collect these BH&G cookbooks, gardening and decorating books from the 60s and I've never paid more than $4 for one. I saw this one for $20 and the same edition downstairs for $30. I also just checked etsy and the going rates for comparable editions were $14, $20, and $30. This makes me feel a bit giddy; I think I should get into the book reselling business! I found many of mine at the library book sale over the past few semesters. A large paper bag of books goes for $4 during the last hour of the sale and that's when I make my purchases, so a good portion of my finds have been 50 cents or less. The others come from Goodwill. My stash is stuck at my house in Sun Prairie for now, but I'm sure they'll make an appearance when Neil and I get to Bloomington.

Next, traversing to the third floor:

There's a small room filled with children's things off to the side and when I stepped into it I almost thought I had been transplanted to a horror film. The dolls were truly petrifying, so, um, sorry I'm exposing you to this!

THAT GRANDMOTHER DOLL WAS THE WORST. Ok, moving on.

Quilts! Nothing exciting to say about them except that they were oh so pretty.

Me rocking some serious humidity hair.

Next I headed down two stories and took a peek around the backyard area, where Treasures on Main keeps all sorts of random items. If I had a garden or backyard area I would love to find uses for these rusty old appliances and junk.

That's about all I have for Treasures on Main today. I feel like it is definitely a place I take for granted because I live so close to it, one that I will remember fondly when I leave La Crosse. It is well-maintained, calm, there are cats, prices are reasonable if you know what you're looking for, the people working there don't follow you around and make you feel like a freaking criminal simply because you want to wander around. Lots of pluses. Go there if you can.

stellar shop(s), viroqua edition: pomegranate & tulips

Okay, first off, with names like Pomegranate and Tulips, how could these shops be any less than stellar? It's simply not possible. I'm convinced.

By the time we made it to these two shops we had already indulged in crepes, taken in the wonders of the Public Market, and found Ms. JohnaLee a wedding dress. Realizing there were two more jawdroppingly hip stores mere feet away was just icing on the cake.

POMEGRANATE
209 S. Main Street
Viroqua, WI 54665

Pomegranate is a tiny boutique run by a crafty, friendly woman named Angie Benetto, who makes over 90% of what is sold inside.

Crazy Daze sidewalk sales on the day we happen to be in Viroqua? Lucky us.

The shop featured handstiched and handstamped aprons, totes and tapestries with no lack of embellishment. An orgy of cascading ruffles.

  Love that the owner's signature stamp reps Viroqua so proudly. 

JohnaLee took a shine to one of these aprons (shown above) and almost bought it. She didn't have cash on hand so the owner told her she could just take it and bring the cash back after she got it at KwikTrip. How's that for trusting? The owner was utterly unconcerned. Small town openness and trust, so incredible to me these days. Ultimately JL didn't end up buying it, but the sentiment was quite astonishing nonetheless.

Charming onesies. Adore the hangers.

Sadly, the owner of Pomegranate didn't have an etsy shop. This distressed me greatly. I hope my fervent urgings to get one up and running convinced her a bit!

TULIPS
207 S. Main Street
Viroqua, WI 54665

Tulips is located directly next to Pomegranate, and I must say, the shops go hand-in-hand. Painted avocado green, these outdoor sale tables were covered in vintage tablecloths. I knew this store would be a favorite from first sight.

Tulips has a facebook page and a flickr account if you're interested. 

  .... I now have a reason to collect miscellaneous pretty old cans.

The inside of Tulips was bright, airy and cheerful. Obviously the owners are also women who have a hard time sticking to one color palette. Um, I can relate.

This will probably come as no surprise to anyone, but I have been seeking a small discarded card catalog such as this for a long time. I get insanely jealous when I see anyone else that has one in their possession. I'm a thrifter and a future librarian, so owning a small repurposed card catalog is just necessary.

Succulents, matryoshka dolls, journals. Bold citrusy yellow paint.

The owners sold both clothing that they created as well as vintage textiles: tablecloths, dish towels, there may even have been some sheets in there. All were lovely. I bought a small dish towel.

Bright colors, small treasures.

 ... I cannot resist a table full of tchotchkes!

Bold, chunky jewelry.

 In the back of Tulips there was a small craft studio area. The owners sold fabric, embroidery floss, and other miscellaneous crafty things. It's possible that they have mini courses at Tulips on occasion, though I didn't ask the owner.

All the stellar shops I have thus far featured with the exception of the antique stores have been small creative businesses owned and operated by women. I can't say enough about how much I admire what they are doing. I cannot imagine what it must be like to pour your creative energy into a shop, not knowing if you will make enough money to keep it running. I imagine it gets disheartening pretty fast, but who knows? I am seriously considering starting up an etsy shop at some point in the future, maybe 6 months out, after I am settled in Bloomington. Lately I've been missing having a creative outlet, as my sewing machine cord is packed away somewhere and there just isn't much room in my shared space to create. I feel the creative itch.

Oh, and tangentially related: Neil and I are moving to Bloomington in less than a month. I'm leaving La Crosse in three weeks. Life is about to get crazy.