Shop 501 & Company — Attraction in Chaska

This place is quite easy to get to, plus easy to see from the main drag of Co. Rd. 41 through Chaska.

I really enjoyed my visit. It was a beautiful sunny day, all their doors were open with a wonderful breeze drifting along.

The "shop" welcomes you with a great ambiance of nostalgia... No matter where you look there are things that are vintage, antique replicas/remakes, actual antiques and those that have been refurbished/recycled in every nook you see. I encourage people who are interested in places like this to take the time to check them out.

Granted their prices are top dollar on many items but there are a few great finds to be had if you look closely. This is one of the reasons why I gave them 3 stars... Spendy. Sure, if you look hard enough you can find some fair deals but a lot in my opinion as an antique collector is overpriced. The other reason... Like most vintage shops these people have absolutely No Idea on the value of a Breyer Model Horse! You must be a Model Horse Collector who knows the horse models, their value in mint condition as well as their make & model to understands their true value! Just looking them up online which leads to guessing is not fair or correct to the average collector...who are usually young girls that love horses.

For Example: You (Shop 501), have a common Classic size chestnut "old" mold (commonly known as the "Ginger" mold) model horse that is somewhat yellowed, has some major scratches on both sides of it's body as well as hoof scuffs. This model was well played with....and you people want $12.00 for it, it was worth that when it was brand new in the box! Which brings me to another issue, you don't have the box or the make/name of the model. In truth, it's worth maybe $3.00 because its valued as a "played with" model that's from a common run mold. In other words... A well "loved" toy. So asking $12.00 for a very well used Breyer with no provenance is ridiculous.

Don't get me wrong. I think this is a wonderful place. Great regular hours so there's no guessing about when they're open! The ladies that greeted me were very friendly and cordial. I actually did buy a few items. I just hope things improve on their knowledge of specific collectibles. As in taking the time to do their research on items they are not familiar with.

I...

got scammed out of $91 for a very dirty animal skull, yearbooks that she didnt let me open until purchased (and keep in mind there are no returns) which were advertised as ‘historic chapter books’ and a jacket that was COMPLETELY torn up but i didnt know it was because of the way they hung it. when we tried to return it, she pulled a blank piece of paper out and a sharpie and wrote ‘no returns’ and was just overly rude and slammed the door in our face. she took advantage of us because we were young. do not recommend going there....

The owners and staff at the 501 are gracious and very helpful. We have been to the store many times and our experiences have always been great. Many purchases from 501 . . . and we have never failed to be satisfied with either the price or the items we bought. Our garden and house are full of antiques such as the "screened in" potting bench on our patio. The screen windows were a bargain as was the old, barn window you can see off to the side. ...