Photography by Jessica Rapp
Antique enthusiasts and Catering St. Louis stalwarts Carleen Kramer and Mark Erker celebrated the grand opening of their newest venture in the historic Italian American neighborhood, The Hill Antique Market.
Quirky mid-century trinkets, delicate bamboo furniture from Japan, Native American art, and retro vinyl collectibles have settled into their new home on The Hill.
Antique enthusiasts and Catering St. Louis stalwarts Carleen Kramer and Mark Erker celebrated the grand opening of their newest venture in the historic Italian American neighborhood, The Hill Antique Market (4923 Daggett). Their shop, located next door to their event space Oliva and their new Airbnb, features around 50 vendors offering a selection of carefully curated vintage wares, art, and crafts, all set in a remodeled red brick warehouse formerly used to manufacture battery-powered locomotives for mining cars.
“We love to shop,” Kramer says. “We go to Nashville to shop just for fun and we just love old things. We just buy what we like, and it's sort of become an obsession. This seemed like a really good way to not pile another event space on top of what we already have and just have a little fun.”
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Treasure hunters won't have to dig too hard to find items to fall in love with. Each booth is selectively merchandised, all striking a delicate balance between handmade décor, art, and vintage keepsakes for every room of the house, with prices ranging from bargain buys to the higher-end (namely Persian rugs, rare paintings, and furniture). Some sellers will be familiar to vintage fiends in St. Louis—for example, Janet's Vintage Planet sells funky and colorful jewelry, patches and dresses from the '80s and '90s, while the popular Surfboard Moderne offers sleek mid-century modern dining sets and lamps.
Photography by Jessica Rapp
Others are newer to the brick and mortar scene, like ShopShopModern, who also runs an Etsy store boasting cheeky mid-century postcards and kitchen kitsch; Twig & Tarnish for succulent lovers; interior designer and curator Chelsea Market STL; and mixed fiber artists Jennifer Gerard Goley and Nola A. Heidbreder.
Kramer and Erker soon plan to work in more pieces from local artists, both painters and pottery and emphasize the selection is constantly changing. Their ultimate aim: to create a destination where shoppers can come in and see familiar faces—an attribute the entrepreneurs are already well acquainted with. “There is so much more sense of a community on The Hill than any other place I've lived my whole life,” Kramer says.
Store hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Tuesday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. for Wine Down Wednesdays.
