Within the walls of small, unassuming storefronts around the Concord area hide many treasures waiting to find their next home.
These thrift stores and antique shops are jam-packed with items and decor that fulfill a secondhand shopper’s dream — and bring togetherness to communities.
Here are some must-visit shops that may hold your next favorite item.
Lilise Designer Resale: Concord
Lilise Designer Resale, near the start of North Main Street in downtown, offers all your fashion needs at many different price points. You can see a $6 J.Crew white T-shirt right across from a $1,000 vintage Chanel handbag.
Elyssa Alfieri, owner of the consignment store, said that was the goal in starting the business. She originally worked down the street at Zoë & Co. Professional Bra Fitters for seven years and has been a lover of fashion and thrifting. When the building went on sale in 2016, she jumped at the opportunity to take it on — and transform it.
“It was just an older kind of clientele, and a little bit more based on professional dress versus all kinds,” Alfieri said. “So when I purchased it, I just changed the business model to be a little bit more inclusive of all demographics and all levels of dress too.”
She wanted the store to be a place where daughters, mothers and grandmothers can shop together and come out of the store with something they love.
On the main floor of Lilise Designer Resale, shoppers can give items and earn back 40% of the sale price. In the basement of the store are 21 booths people can rent and sell their own closet of clothes — with the ability to control the price and gain 66% of the profit.
Alfieri said she is not picky about the kinds of things that come to the store. It is sometimes surprising, she said, to receive vintage name-brand items, but she also appreciates the crazy clothes that end up on the racks.
“If you want to have fun with fashion, you have to be able to access fashion,” she said.
The store at 7 North Main St. is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, with Sundays closing two hours early. It is not open on Mondays.
Capital Vintage: Concord
Farther up the street and around the corner is Capital Vintage: racks of graphic T-shirts line the perimeter of the store, with neon signs, full-sized posters, trinkets and cardboard cutouts as decor.
Owner Johnny Huston can never get enough of finding things for the store, which he’s owned and operated for the past three years. He scours in and out of the Granite State to look for items he know someone out there is looking for.
“There are so many freaks and geeks in this industry, and I’m truly one of them,” he said. “We’re just so passionate about the antiques, how well the things were made, the nostalgia behind them. I just love the constant hit of euphoria when you find a cool piece that you can send off to the next home.”
A recent find that blew Huston away was a 1990 Alice in Chains tour shirt. A man from South Carolina dropped off a bin of donation items, which included that shirt. Huston — who handpicks everything in the store — said a lot of the clothes come to him that way, but many others come from flea markets, estate sales and private sourcing.
Huston has been in the thrift scene “since I was able to walk” and prides himself on offering the widest selection of items for everyone who comes in.
“Don’t stop thrifting. It’s the most fun thing in the world,” he said. “It can seem arduous and tedious to dig through whatever you want to dig through … but it’s the most sustainable thing in the world.”
Capital Vintage at 19 Pleasant St., Suite 1, is open every day between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Out of Your Attic Thrift Shop: Chichester
Carol Hendee started Baby Threads in Chichester 20 years ago, crotcheting blankets for newborns in hospitals. When those hospitals could no longer accept the handmade crafts, she had to pivot. In 2020, Out of Your Attic Thrift Store was born — and it began to sell a lot more than baby blankets.
The donation-fueled thrift store is packed with clothes for all ages, knickknacks, puzzles, games, electronics and small appliances. Eighteen regular volunteers help run the store and many regulars come to see what’s new and for connection.
“It’s a place where they come in and talk,” Hendee said. They know each other, and it’s really nice.”
Not only is it a place where some community members gather, but it’s also a place that helps its community. Most items in the store cost only $1 to $2, and can cost even less during the store’s monthly half-price days.
Hendee said if there are people who experienced a tragedy, such as losing their home or belongings to a fire, Out of Your Attic can give whatever items they need for free.
“If we have some people that might need a toaster, something as simple as that, and they really don’t have the money, we can take care of that for fire victims [or] any tragedy,” Hendee said.
The store supports many organizations in and around Chichester. It donates regularly to food pantries, gave clothes for costumes in the showing of “Matilda” at Chichester Central School, and contributed to Pittsfield’s youth fishing derby.
The thrift store, 345 Suncook Valley Road in Chichester, is open noon to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. It is closed Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Union House Oddities: Contoocook
A grandstanding clock tower peeks out of the landscape in Contoocook’s downtown. Though you may not hear a steady tick and a booming bell, the tower still makes its presence known.
It has gone through many transformations since it was built in 1837: a town meetinghouse, a multidenominational church, a post office and a veterans home. For the past 10 years, it’s been the home of Union House Oddities, an eclectic antique store owned by Mark Winzeler and his wife, Libby.
“I’ve always been a collector. My folks were collectors. We just love the stuff,” Winzeler said. “So we opened the store, and it’s been very well received.”
He often gets calls to visit local homes of people who had moved out or passed away, and take what isn’t wanted (his favorite homes, he said, are the ones where he can take everything). He is sometimes surprised to find a rare or old item that’s being tossed away — but the “adventure” of findings those things are what excite him the most.
There are many distinct corners of Union House Oddities that could appeal to nearly anyone. Fine china and glassware greet you at the front of the store; paintings, furniture and home decor are sprinkled throughout the circular main room; pastel figurines and dishes are housed in a small offshoot space; a kids room is fitted with toys, baseball cards and a classic gumball machine.
Even smaller sections of the store include glass-protected tables with fine costume jewelry, a dimly lit hallway with bedside lamps and paintings repurposed by Libby, and a tiny shelf with small porcelain cats. “My cats don’t bite me,” he said.
“Over the years, we’ve gotten really good at knowing what people want,” Winzeler said.
Union House Oddities sits on 53 Maple St. in Contoocook and is open Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5:30 p.m. The store is closed Monday to Wednesday.
