After doing some searching on Craig’s List, I stumbled upon a store called Hipsteria that had several listings. To say I was excited would be putting it mildly. Hipsteria is located at 18 Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh, NC. They have some items listed on their website but there was more at the store, so I had to go.
welcome to Hipsteria
Hipsteria’s shop space is located downstairs in the Carter Building.  It is surrounded by artist studios, which is another reason to stop and shop. The grand opening is this Saturday 2/14. The store will offer special discounts, hors d’oeuvres and live Jazz.  Email Benjamin at [email protected].
The shop’s owner, Benjamin Clark has this to say about his fantastic store,
Many people find mid-century furniture very confusing – not only the many different looks, but also the pricing – prices can vary widely for pieces that appear to be very similar. Our goal is to be a “safe haven” for mid-century shoppers – a place where someone can feel confident that whatever they select, it will be of good quality and priced fairly. You don’t have to be an expert to shop at Hipsteria, just someone who appreciates mid-century design…or who knows someone who does!
After visiting, I met Benjamin and learned that the store had only been there for about a month. Benjamin told me his favorite piece in the store right now is a Paul McCobb fold-down bar. He said he is partial to McCobb because he grew up in an apartment in New York filled with these kinds of pieces.
I settled on a Milo Baugham tufted ottoman covered in gold velvet which unfortunately has seen better days. I was in the market for an ottoman and this one has a storage compartment (for toys) and it is on casters so it will easily roll around the room to be used as an ottoman and as extra seating or a soft coffee table that my little one can bump her head on and keep on moving.
Benjamin carried my ottoman out to my car, loaded it in and we shook hands and I said I would be back. He has old records and big stack of art and design books that I didn’t even look through yet.
This is a really special piece, a Milo Baugham settee with a rosewood shell, wowsers
Wasilly chair
Heywood Wakefield cocktail table
Chrome and glass end tables, made in Italy
Heywood Wakefield dining set
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that couch!!!
Sorry to say i had a really, really bad experience with Hipsteria..Very poor customer service and my piece was broken…What happened: I bought one of twin credenzas Ben had for sale. He couldn’t get my piece ready on time and gave me attitude when I tried to arrange pick-up even after I had paid for it. He said he would be “too busy to help me get the piece in my car.†When we did agree on a time, he didn’t even have it ready! Told me I was supposed to have called immediately before coming…And this was a WEEK after I purchased it.. I agreed to come back in a few hours, and when I returned, the piece still wasn’t ready: he said “he forgot and got busy..†— after having just seen me 3 hours before!!! All the piece needed was a change of legs and polishing. He did a quick, not very good job while I sat there and waited, and after getting the piece in my car, I saw that one side of it was loose. After all that, the piece was broken!! What a disappointing experience…I won’t be going back there…
That stinks Chiapet40. Thanks for sharing your experience. I hope it was a one-off cause I hate to see resources like this not hold up.
We had a similar furniture store here on the Western side of the state that closed down a couple years back and I miss it all the time.
Ben is a jerk who likes to take advantage of people. He is the type that goes to little old ladies houses and makes them obsurdly lowball offers on valuable items. He lies about his intentions when purchasing items. I have taked to several people he sourced from and he said the item was for his house that they were “getting a new look”. Then a couple days later it ends up in the store. Why would you lie about that??? He is maybe, maybe mildly knowledgable about the items he sells, but is mostly in the dark. So be assured that your item is probably either wildly overpriced or maybe you will find a deal that he was too dumb to research. He has stolen from his consignors and is just an all around dildo. Ben if you read this please wear a belt for your size 42 jeans when you only wear about a 36. Noone wants to see your rear.
Where did you get this theme from? It’s pretty clean and nice
Just to balance things out, I have never had a problem shopping at Hipsteria. Found a range of prices, some really great pieces (yeah, some out of my price range), and the owner willing to negotiate. Sorry to hear about some bad experiences, however, the “buy low sell high” approach I believe to actually be a pretty sound business model.
Jess-thanks for sharing your experience
JessGH, buy low and sell high is what makes the world go round and is fine, but not when you take advantage of people. There is a difference.
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