Friday Favorite Flea Finds: October 3, 2025
A Ventura thrift store, a $3 Blenko vase, and a little help from thrifter’s luck, turned my shopping trip into a story worth telling.
Several months ago, I had the opportunity to visit my sister for several weeks in Ventura, California. While there, between trips to Solvang and Santa Barbara, I got her to indulge me in one of my favorite pastimes: checking out local thrift stores. I enjoy smaller thrift stores that benefit a good cause, so my sister took me to the Avenue Thrift Store in Ventura, where the proceeds benefit The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Ventura.
This place was chock-full of goodies, including vintage glass, one of my favorites. We spent about half an hour plucking goodies off the shelves before we noticed that they were putting out even more treasures, so we decided to make another block. Lo and behold, to my surprise, in the back of one of the bottom shelves sat this beautiful Blenko vase. I snatched it up and looked at the price tag — $3.00!?! For a Blenko Spiral Swirl Rigaree vase by Don Shepard that can go for upwards of $50 to $100 (sometimes more)? Yes, please!
We headed up front with our goodies, but when I placed the vase by the register, the price tag had fallen off somewhere in the store. Per their store policy, I couldn't purchase it that day. It had to be re-priced and would be put out on the shelves sometime in the next couple of days. I was heartbroken. But rules are rules, and my sister promised we'd return the next day.
We came back shortly after the store opened on the following day and frantically searched for the vase, but it was nowhere to be found. I even asked an employee to look in the back, but she had no luck either. I walked back to my sister, who was engrossed in conversation with another shopper. We chatted for a few more minutes and turned to go. I was headed up the aisle when my sister grabbed my arm and yanked me to a stop. "LOOK!" she commanded.
I turned to look where she was pointing, and there was the vase. It had not been there five minutes ago, but I wasn't asking questions. I grabbed it and was happy to see another $3.00 price tag, firmly attached to the neck with scotch tape. It was an answer to my thrifting plea. A little thrifter’s luck turned heartbreak into a happy dance, right there in the glass aisle of the Avenue Thrift.
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