Guide to Antique Shopping in Phoenix, Arizona

This is a quick and easy guide to shopping for antiques in Phoenix, Arizona without wasting your gas and your time. Many new residents and visitors are surprised at just how spread out the valley of the sun is, especially when it comes to searching for antique stores. Unfortunately, without knowing where to might just end up driving to the other side of town and wasting hours of your time visiting just one Antique store.

Now, anybody interested in antiques is going to fall into one of two major categories. Either you are a collector of specific antiques such as old railroad lanterns and are hoping to come across that rare piece with the original globe and in good condition for the right price or you are the general type of shopper interested in looking around and perhaps finding something to furnish or decorate a room you are working on.

The General Shopper

If you don't have anything specific in mind than your best bet is head on down to the mecca of antiques, also known as the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall. There is somewhere around 1000 individual spaces in which people may rent in order to display and sell their items.

While its an easy way to cover the most ground and look at the most amount of products if you are looking for something specific, it's only flaw is their very helpful staff. They are generally knowledgeable of the types of products their sellers have and it seems that the attraction it gets from antique shoppers makes it far too easy for people to ask the staff if they have whatever you are looking for in stock.

I really hate to have to say it because I really believe that great customer service should be rewarded but if you are looking for specific rare pieces that are priced lower than they should be, avoid the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall in Phoenix.

If you are just looking around and don't have anything specific in mind, then this is the place you want to be because you can literally spend hours without seeing everything. Because of the number of customers and sellers, it's also one of those places you can visit again in a month or two and it's almost like visiting a completely different antique store entirely because the existing sellers exchange out their products, old sellers leave and new sellers take over in their place.

The Specific Shopper

If you are a specific shopper than unfortunately you are just going to have to do the dirty work yourself because the goal is to find that mom and pop shop that took whatever you are looking for but isn't knowledgeable enough to understand the true value of the piece they are selling. After all, that's sort of the whole reason you find those diamonds in the rough.

What you are looking for are clusters of antique shops you can visit that usually have quality merchandise. If you are making a day of it and you have a whole Saturday or something, one of my favorites is actually to head east of the valley on the US 60 and go to the city of Globe. The drive is scenic and there are 5 or 6 antique stores with a wide variety of products that I have been lucky enough to stumble into some real finds.

The other area or cluster of antique shops I really enjoy are located in Payson. Once again there are probably 5 or 6 antique stores there but the area is gorgeous and it makes for a fun way to spend the day.

The important part, as I'm sure you can imagine, is that you don't go out expecting to find anything. If you go out and take the trip just looking for something fun to do and new to see then you have an absolute blast and if you find that great deal on that rare piece, even better.

No matter what type of antique shopper you are, Arizona is one the absolute best places to shop for antiques and there are really no wrong places to go. The important thing is that you go out there and have some fun!