posted on April 5, 2004 03:47:38 PM new
How's the yard sale, flea market, thrift store scene
in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area? I'm moving there
this coming May from Chicago. I grew up
in South Minneapolis and am looking forward
to getting back. Any input from Minnesota
sellers would be appreciated. Thanks.
[ edited by beatnikera on Apr 5, 2004 03:48 PM ]
posted on April 5, 2004 05:51:36 PM new
beatnikera,
try Yahoo or Google....search "Minneapolis-St. Paul" garage sale...yard sale...community events...ect ect ect. You will be suprised how much you can dig up in a short period of time. Aslo check the classified sections of on-line newspapers...
posted on April 5, 2004 06:23:55 PM new
Hi micmic66.
I was asking more along the lines of Twin
Cities sellers that read and post here that
have experience going out looking for items
on a regular basis in the Minneapolis-St. Paul
area for the sole purpose of reselling.
posted on April 5, 2004 08:35:51 PM new
Don't waste your time with the searches. You will end up with a headache.
Here is some of the biggies that will be coming up. The dates will be tentative because I will be relying on past years and we also had leap year this year which could change weekends, but they will be close.
First, the estate sale scene runs year round and is usually quite good. Birkeland is best with prices and times. RD Hathaway, Bonnies Vintage, Beehive Estates, J. Donald Donohue and Dennis Hagen are ones that you should not make special trips to. They are way over priced, even on half priced days. If they happen to be in the neighborhood of other sales you are going to, then drop in. All the others are Ok, but you do have to shop.
Ok, here is a small list of some of the big sales coming up.
Either this weekend or next. Fridley. Old Central Avenue to Pleasant View Drive from Osborne Road to 73rd ave NE. This is the neighborhood that surrounds flannery park. This sale will have roughly 50 homes.
April 25th or possibly May 2nd. Apple Valley. About 2 miles south of the MN Zoo.
Neighborhood north east of Pilot Knob and County Rd 42. This one will have roughly 100 homes involved in the 10-12 blocks in the area.
May 6th-8th Lino Lakes. Wild Turkey Trail Neighborhood. This sale always starts on a Thursday and goes through Saturday. Roughly 15 homes.
Special note. The Pleasant Hills neighborhood in Lino Lakes does a fairly large sale of about 40 homes, but you will have to watch the paper section 360 for that.
May 8th or 15th. Likely the 8th. It has always been the Saturday of mothers day weekend ever since I have been attending. This is the biggest of the year. Blaine. Northwest corner of Hwy 65 and County 242. This one is roughly one square mile and will include over 400 homes. Get there before starting time if you want to park. Don't plan on moving your car until you want to leave. Good idea to bring a cart, you will do a lot of walking. Food, portable toilets, entertainment including the Blaine marching band will be there. I have attended for the past four years and have yet to get to every house in the sale.
May 15th or 22nd. Eagan. Southwest corner of Westcott Rd and Lexington Ave. This neighborhood is directly north of Northview park and will have roughly 150 homes. This one will also have food. Portable toilets at the park. One of the home owners has a dual bicycle golf cart in which they drive around to the sales in it. It will hold 4 people with a canopy.
May15th or 22nd. Burnsville. Off of Hwy 13 south of Yankee Doodle Rd. Burgundy Drive and Robin Lane. Roughly 30 homes. This is a good one to do after Eagan.
May 15th or 22nd. Lino Lakes north of centennial elementary school. From North Road to 35W to Sunset Road. Roughly 50 homes in this one. Good one to do if you get Eagan done early.
First or second Saturday of June. Burnsville. South River Hills Park Area off of Hwy 13 north of Cliff Rd. This is the second largest of the year and probably best organized. They make all the streets one way for this sale. This sale is also one to get there early for parking. You will do a lot of walking at this one as well. The granny cart is recommended. Food, and portable toilets. The police patrol and control traffic. Roughly 250 homes in this one.
Two others that should be coming up in the next three weeks are Savage near Mystic Lake Casino and Maple Grove around Weaver Lake. I remember both of those being in the spring because of the chilly weather. Savage roughly 45 homes, but is a fairly new neighborhood and should grow with time. Maple Grove has roughly 25, but all close together making it worth the trip.
Just thought of a couple more. Another Lino Lakes, but could be considered between Hugo and Centerville. This one is just north of Ramsey County J and 35 E. Langer Lane, Lacasse Dr, Clearwater Creek neighborhood. Another fairly new neighborhood. Roughy 40 homes last year, but should grow with time. This was mid spring if memory serves.
Late May or Early June Saturday. Andover Southwest corner of Hanson Blvd and Constance Blvd NW. Enter at 159th, Drake or Crane. Roughly 75 Homes here. Watch paper.
You can check both papers, but St. Paul will have the bigger sales. You can find them at Twincities.com. section 360 for garage sales and section 278 for estate sales. The Minneapolis paper is easier to navigate online though and you generally will find more estates listed there than St. Paul. Estates are section 317 or under antiques and sales. I forget the garage sale sections, but they divide it by neighborhoods and is harder to navigate. They are at startribune.com You will have to become a registered member, but that isn't that big a deal. They don't send your name to spammers.
When are you going to be in Minn? The garage sales numbers did increase last week. Winter is over and the lakes opened up over the weekend.
posted on April 5, 2004 08:36:09 PM new
I'm from Mpls-St Paul but I am afraid my garage and yard sale experience is limited to finding great deals on kids toys a few years ago. My kids decided they liked new Barbies better than used ones and my husband laid down the law about all the "treasures" I was bringing home, so I went through a few years of garage sale withdrawal, and am now more or less cured.
Funny thing about garage sales here though...over time the "weekend sales" have evolved into Weds-thurs & Fri am. I guess people want to be able to go up "to the lake" on the weekend.
posted on April 5, 2004 08:41:11 PM new
Stone - I live in Maple Grove and the Weaver Lake sale is the first weekend in May and has expanded to include West Fish Lake area and there are HUNDREDS of home. The site of the "old" Weaver Lake sale is pretty full of junk by now (everyone sold all the good stuff 10 years ago) but there are plenty of other homes..hmmm...now that I think about it, maybe I am not so cured!! I feel the old "thrill of the hunt" feeling coming over me! LOL
**********************************
Sig files are too much trouble! http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
posted on April 5, 2004 08:48:01 PM new
neglus,
Kind of gets in your blood. Last year was my first year I did Weaver Lake and couldn't remember the exact date I went. Seems to me that it lasted for three days as well. I remember going around the north end of the lake then through the neighborhoods. Now that I think about it, I went on the last day and many did not open for the last day.
posted on April 5, 2004 08:50:50 PM new
You are better off to start cruising the area Weds night..amazing the number of presales there are..Thurs am (early) is prime garage sale time in Maple Grove..good stuff is usually gone by Friday noon. The annual sales usually are open Sat morning but many sellers skip Sunday altogether.
The annual sales aren't as good as the "virgin" sales though! After a couple of years people are really scraping the bottom of the barrel to find stuff to sell. **********************************
Sig files are too much trouble!
http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
[ edited by neglus on Apr 5, 2004 08:55 PM ]
posted on April 5, 2004 08:51:24 PM new
Neglus...Why don't you surprise hubby? Tell him you're going to the store for a quart of milk. Come back 8 hours later with a truckload of treasures. He'll be speechless
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on April 5, 2004 09:02:46 PM new
Sparkz..
We are the WORST possible match! I am an "acquirer" and he is a "hoarder". I have no trouble parting with things so I can get "new" treasures but they only end up in the garage..he takes things out of my Good Will bags and even the garbage!
People think I am HOLDING a garage sale when I leave the garage open! HMMMMM..maybe I'll slap some tags on and open the garage during the Weaver Lake Sale
**********************************
Sig files are too much trouble! http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
posted on April 5, 2004 09:08:46 PM new
When I go to the twin cities I find there is one estate group that have many estate sales on a weekend. I haven't found many good garage sales but then again I don't go to garage sales but sometimes I hit the the estate sales. I find them pretty reasonable.
posted on April 5, 2004 11:30:20 PM new
Damxz, You make me homesick, but I'll never move back there. Love the Sprin, Summer & Fall. But the winters are just too damz cold for my old bones.
posted on April 7, 2004 02:28:29 PM new
Beatnikera, is your name Dan? I might know you. I live in Brooklyn Center, but I shop all over the Twin Cities, if you are moving back to S. Mpls., garage sales around Lake Nokomis are just starting, should pick up after Easter, Estate sales go year round- slim pickings lately though. Richfield & Bloomington always has more sales than you can hit in a day, Edina always has wonderful sales if you know your way around the tangled streets. I find Heritage, Hands & Hearts, Bonnies Vintage & Beehive estates to be the ones to hit, a lot of dealers camping out to get low numbers is a pain though, I hate getting up at 4:30 AM to get a number under 20 to get in the first wave to get in the house. I`ve found some of the best stuff at garage sales, hitting about 45 a day, a lot of work, but worth it. By the way, STAY OUT OF MY AREA, THERE`S ENOUGH COMPETITION ALREADY! Love, Mike
posted on April 7, 2004 05:24:26 PM newWhen I go to the twin cities I find there is one estate group that have many estate sales on a weekend
That is Birkeland. They do the best job on both ends. They sell items at a reasonable price and they don't give it away either. The best part for the client is they usually never have any thing left at the end of the sale.
Bonnie's Vintage and Beehive are some of the worst. Prices too high and almost always tons of items left over for the clients to remove themselves. Beehive also has a warehouse that is jammed full of items they couldn't sell because they simply priced them too high. Even on half priced day, they are still way too high on their items. And Bonnie's hours of operation are so crappy that she doesn't get many people in to the sales.
Heritage is split. If you go to a sale the Heritage's owner is running, the prices will be very high. If it is being run by her assisitants, then the prices will be reasonable.
Hand & Hearts is one of those in the middle companies. If you shop, you can find some decent prices, but they can be out of wack as well. They are generally better on the last day of the sale.
posted on April 7, 2004 06:54:33 PM new
I live in NorthEast Minneapolis and if you go to the estate sales run by the professionals you have to get there 3 hours before they open if you want to be the first 10 in the house. I prefer going to the farm estate auctions that last all day a good web site that shows a lot of up coming auctions is www.midwestauctions.com
posted on April 7, 2004 09:22:45 PM new
Auctions can be good, but the problem is you have to waste your whole day to maybe get one or two things that you are interested in.
Estate sales are more desirable as you can go through and find what you want and get out and go on to the next sale. I will beg to differ on the time frames. Yes, you do have to show up early to get a good number. But I never show up any earlier than 15 minutes early and often end up with a top 5 number. There is a flip side to that too. You don't need to have a number to get good items. Just a little luck. In fact, I generally do better at sales that I didn't have a number for.
posted on April 8, 2004 08:56:39 AM new
"Beatnikera, is your name Dan?"
My name is John - I grew up in the 50th and France area (Morningside) AKA The Edina Ghetto.
"Edina always has wonderful sales if you know your way around the tangled streets."
My folks currently live right on West 70th Street in Edina (near Southdale) and will be having a garage sale sometime in June. As soon I know the exact
date and time, I will let everyone here know about
it first.
"Bonnie's Vintage and Beehive are some of the worst."
Is Bonnie's Vintage run by a woman named Bonnie McPherson? If so, I think I know who she is.
[ edited by beatnikera on Apr 8, 2004 08:57 AM ]
[ edited by beatnikera on Apr 8, 2004 09:01 AM ]
