Randolph Street Market

West Loop, Chicago –

Held the last weekend of the month from February to December, Randolph Street Market is a European-style bazaar with more than two hundred vendors – all hand-picked by festival organizers – hawking an array of antiques, handmade items, and vintage goods.

Both an indoor and outdoor event, the market features tented booths that cover the expansive parking lot and even more sellers inside the nearby Plumbers Hall. Serious antique collectors trawl the vast selection for hidden gems, while meticulous hipsters and affable groups of friends scour the racks of vintage clothes or check out vinyl records for rare imports.

Inside the Hall, nearly the entire first floor is dedicated to antiques – mostly furniture and estate finds – while a smaller room is home to independent crafters selling original clothing, jewelry, and art.

The upstairs ballroom houses an immense collection of higher-end used clothing and contemporary décor from all over the world, a mecca for serious thrift-loving fashionistas, budding interior decorators, and patient treasure hunters who just might stumble upon a mid-century Chanel purse next to a booth of vintage travel posters and magazines.

Although warm days are certainly popular for browsing in the sunshine, even the most inclement weather doesn’t stop shoppers on the prowl from enjoying the hidden wonders of the Randolph Street Market.