Look no further for the mid-century furniture of your dreams with these three sourcing and restoration experts and their vintage MCM furniture shops.
Mid Century Mobler
When Julian Goldklang started sourcing Mid Century Modern furniture pieces from Europe more than 10 years ago, he was just learning the ropes. “I went over to Europe and was fortunate to meet some vintage dealers who helped me establish a network,” he says. In the years since, he and his wife and business partner, Desiree Myers, have developed a thriving business.
“We’ve both always had a passion for all things vintage,” Julian says. For him, it started with restoring cars from the 1950s; for Desiree, it was vintage clothing. “The business really took off when we met because our shared love of the era helped it thrive,” he says.
Today, their vintage expertise has grown and their vintage MCM furniture business specializes in Danish Modern style. “There’s just a lot of amazing furniture there,” Julian says. “We’ve dabbled in pieces from other countries, but we are experts in Scandinavian pieces.” With a 7,500-square-foot showroom in Berkeley, California, and a constantly evolving collection, there’s always something new and exciting to see. “We go on regular buying trips to Scandinavia and our pieces are stored in a warehouse there until there’s enough to fill a shipping container,” Julian says. Once the container has made its way to the U.S., the furniture is displayed in the showroom, listed online and sold. After the piece is sold, they begin the restoration process with the purchasers’ preferences as the goal. “They can choose whatever upholstery and finishes they want, but hope is always to restore it with the designer’s original intent in mind,” Julian says.
One of Julian and Desiree’s favorite discoveries was a rocking chair designed by Leon Meyer, the same architect who built the Bay Area round home that they are currently restoring. “We randomly found the chair at an antiques store in San Francisco—an amazing find considering there were very few made.”
Their established presence and solid reputation has made them a top source for quality furniture on the West Coast. “Social media really helped build our presence,” Julian says. “People will swing by when they’re in the area because they’ve seen us on TikTok or Instagram. That’s been a driving force since the beginning.” Julian hopes their social-media presence and their business inspires more people to shop vintage. As he explains, “The build on vintage pieces is better, the materials are rare and extremely durable, and you can restore them over and over again.”
Vintage MCM Furniture Shop Info
Location: Berkeley, California
Specialty: Danish Modern furnitur
Website: midcenturymobler.com
Instagram: @midcenturymobler
Modern Redux
Kelly Locker was just a kid when he first fell in love with mid-century design. “I had an aunt and uncle who bought and furnished their home with modern furniture. It was fascinating to me when I was a kid,” he recalls. Kelly carried those ideas with him through college and started working in design, eventually ending up as store designer for Barnes and Noble. “Then I had the opportunity to move to New York and keep doing that job or to take severance,” he says, “so I took severance and used the money to open my own shop in Mid Century Modern furniture and decorative arts.”
That was back in the 1990s, and in the years since he closed that shop, went back into store design, left that career again, and most recently started Modern Redux with his friend and business partner Douglas Smith. “In the meantime, the Internet had become a thing and we really put our energy there,” Kelly says. “So we sell a lot online…mostly the small pieces, as people often want to see furniture in person.”
On top of his many years of experience in sourcing and selling mid-century furniture and his keen eye for design, in recent years Kelly has developed a niche specialty. “Most of our energy right now is in European pottery. We sort of got off on this tangent a while back and I haven’t stopped,” he says. It all started with a German vase he purchased a few years back and has continued to expand.
“After World War II and into the mid-’70s there was a huge explosion of pottery work being done in Europe,” Kelly says. “The variety of the work was incredible.” It also wasn’t really being imported to the United States. “Most Americans aren’t familiar with the broad array of pieces,” he says. Today, Kelly sources the stunning pottery directly from Europe, choosing what he wants shipped to the U.S. from friends and partners who are local buyers.
In addition to selling one-of-a-kind pottery and furniture, Modern Redux also does restoration work. “I try to sell furniture in original condition, but sometimes that’s not really possible,” Kelly says. His passion for good design and more specifically the mid-century era is a driving motivator behind the work he loves. “We try to do our best to find pieces that are worth saving and reintroduce them to a contemporary audience,” he says.
Vintage MCM Furniture Shop Info
Location: Austin, Texas
Specialty: European Pottery
Website: modernredux.com
Instagram: @modernredux
Modern Hill
Chicago-based Modern Hill Mid Century Furniture was formed in 2016 by husband and wife team Barry and Hillary Louks. “The ‘Hill’ in the business name comes sort of from Hillary,” says their business partner Mike Solan. When the pair joined forces with Mike in 2020, their sourcing and restoration business really took off. “I met Barry and Hillary as they were shoppers at some of my estate sales,” Mike says. “In 2020, when Covid started, I was no longer able to conduct estate liquidations in the same way for the foreseeable future. Barry and I started talking about working together to grow Modern Hill.” The growth was exponential. “We outgrew our facility and had to move every year!” Mike says.
While the vast breadth of mid-century pieces on the market can make having a specific expertise difficult, Modern Hill—with over 7,000 pieces in stock—certainly knows what they’re doing. “I like to think that I’m an expert in all things Mid Century Modern,” Mike says, “but the truth is we are always learning. There are so many designers and so many categories from furniture to lighting and art.” In his opinion, their true expertise lies in the restoration process.
Once a piece is sold, either online or in person, the Modern Hill experts tackle the restoration and refinishing while preserving the original character. “We have now restored over 10,000 vintage pieces and there isn’t anything we can’t fix,” Mike says.
A particular favorite piece that passed through their hands was a Hans Wegner table and chairs, formerly owned by an American colonel who lived in Denmark with his family in the 1950s, to help rebuild the Danish air force. It stayed in the family moving all around the U.S. until Modern Hill acquired it. Both the past and future matters to the Modern Hill team. They’re passionate about both the history of each piece and the opportunity to give each one a new life. “After these pieces are restored, they end up in some incredible projects, from movie sets to Manhattan penthouses,” he says.
Located in a suburb of Chicago, Modern Hill is ideally located to both source and sell amazing pieces that have stood the test of time. “A lot of today’s popular designs are just reiterations of vintage pieces from an era where design and quality were thought of first,” Mike says.
Vintage MCM Furniture Shop Info
Location: McCook, Illinois
Specialty: Restoration
Website: midcenturywarehouse.com
Instagram: @modern_hill_
If you love behind-the-scenes profiles of vintage MCM furniture shops, don’t miss Basking in the Glow of An Orange Moon. Looking for inspiration on how to integrate your vintage scores into a cohesive home? Read on for ideas from one homeowner’s take in a 1959 Vintage Mid Century Modern Utopia.
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