La Ruelle Vintage Pop-Up
The people of Villeray taste the fruit of years of furniture scavenging
The people walking down Castelnau can’t help but turn their heads. One by one, they all fall victim to the allure of the furniture-filled facade of the La Ruelle Vintage pop-up. I’m standing in line outside the shop on its opening day, observing the magnetism of the primary-color chairs and egg-shaped lamps firsthand. Montreal is just on the other side of May bloom, and fittingly everyone is outside. I stand on the shop’s trapezoidal stoop and watch joggers, children, students, and all manner of passerby gaze longingly inside the store.
Inside are the fruits of years of scavenging from Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, and that great and nebulous source of furniture for many in this city: the street. The offerings range from stately mid-century modern furniture to bright, primary color art deco. The combination suits both, as the bold bands of Hudson’s bay blanket soften the regal appearance of the Chesterfield it sits on. The walls are also covered in bright, abstract patterns, done by Montreal artist Enok Ripley.
“Usually to buy this stuff you have to meet a dude in an alley, and it feels kinda sketchy.” Edir, who is helping out at the pop-up, tells me. “It’s a lot nicer to have a shop like this, where people feel more comfortable”. I add that it makes the shop part of the neighborhood, and as if on cue, a jogger walking past the pop-up gives Edir a warm smile and wave.
In the days leading up to the opening, many smiles, waves, and well-wishes were directed to David, the shop’s owner and supplier. David has been in the neighborhood for 20 years and is received like a hometown sports hero. I ask him if he’s concerned if the facade will lose some appeal as items are sold and removed from it. He laughs and asks if I’d like to see the basement. Heading down a cramped flight of stairs, the basement seems more than capable of repopulating the shopfront. Stooping and swiveling on my heels, I spy a fleet of white leather Marcel Bruer (of Bauhaus fame) chairs. I haven’t stopped thinking about them since. I took no pictures of the basement. You have to go and see it yourself.
La Ruelle Vintage is on Instagram, and the pop-up will be open again from May 20-24, from ten to eight. The pop-up is located at 380 rue de Castelnau.
Thoughts this week
Scrolling through Instagram, I did a double-take when I saw a GIRL* skating in a Dime post… no disrespect I just don’t think I’ve seen a woman in one of their skating vids before… anyway good for them. Setiz Taheri’s Quartier Is Home recently linked with St. Henri pizza shop Adamo to collab on a special-edition pizza and t-shirt… Adamo was the first by-the-slice pizzeria that I found in Montreal… and as a transplant from New Jersey that was huge for me.
* Her name is Una Farrar.