Starland Vintage & Unusual — Attraction in Nashville-Davidson

Please note...this is constructive criticism for my all time favorite Nashville store.

I have mixed feelings while writing this review. This is a shop my wife and I have frequented for over 10 years. Much of the furniture in my home & BnB are from here. Many of our friends have also furnished their homes & apts from here! That being said, the past twoish years, I have witnessed a decline in the quality of merchandise. I am curious if the shop switched ownership? Somewhere along the way...our favorite store has lost it's way.

The furniture once consisted of cool/quality mid century or just out of the ordinary pieces of furniture, lamps, original art, and home accessories. Almost always at waaaay reasonable prices. One of a kind pieces, period designed MCM furniture (please note: Some cool/quality stuff is still here)

Though the prices are still great, I have witnessed a retrogression. Currently I see 40% cool pieces and 60% looks like a junky thrift store full of yard sale leftovers...like Kirklands or Hobby Lobby art (like Le Chat Noir and repo Art Nouveau booze ads), various spray painted items/lamps (that weren't cool the first time around),Furniture that smells like cigarette smoke, frankenlamps with bowls and scraps as bases, stained/ torn upholstery, drum tables that are seriously just a piece of glass or wood on a drum, colored water in bottles, dollar tree glass bottles and more (I frequent dollar tree too), and cheap, low quality, low design clocks and wall decor. I have also noticed many damaged or dirty items, scratches, cracks, bent legs, broken and re-glued ceramics, broken glass on artwork...all of which makes me lose trust as a customer. If that is the stuff I can see upon first glance, what is wrong with it if I dig a little deeper? Of course it is a second hand store....so we should all inspect, but seeing so much pure junk makes me lose confidence. I fully understand that the items had a previous life and I am sure the damaged items are priced accordingly. However that is sadly what my fav store is becoming.... It is taking on the identity of a junk store with damaged goods, even goodwill filters out the damaged stuff...

On a few positive notes....the staff is usually friendly...the jewelry, clothing, toys, quirky gifts, original art, true MCM furniture/lamps & goods behind glass I must compliment. Though I only shop the clothing for parties or costumes....my wife loves the selection and prices...maybe a little too much. :)

Please take this as constructive criticism or perhaps tough love. We would even consider paying more for items if the quality came back to this store. I want to continue shopping here, it still is one of the best places in Nashville, but currently the junk is far outshining the...

the items in the display window caught my eye, the service made me leave. my gf & i stopped in to shop, while we were looking at the sunglasses near the front of the store we noticed two different customers that came in behind us were promptly greeted by two associates behind the counter. while all of this was taking place we couldn’t help but notice a male (an employee i’m assuming) kept watching us try on sunglasses. we left the two pair of shades we were gonna buy on the counter and left because it was obvious we were being discriminated against & surveilled (i assume because we’re black and gay). we weren’t fully out of the store before the same clerk (white, brunette) was already placing the glasses back on the stand which further proves to me we were being watched. i went back inside to ask for the owner and the clerk pointed to an older blonde next to her who was unprofessionally eating a sandwich at the front counter. i expressed my disdain to which the brunette immediately disrupts my sentence to say “i speak to everyone when they come in”; a lie. if she spoke i would’ve spoken back. they were both fake apologetic and as we left the brunette antagonistically responds “i’m sorry you feel that way love”; its not about “how i felt” it’s about the principle of what actually happened. they were racist, discriminatory and rude. its so funny they found time to racially profile us but had zero attention to pay to the white woman who stole a dress off the rack they had outside (we watched it happen as we parked in front of the store). its sad that this is where we are in 2024 but it totally reflects/echoes everything i know to be true about this area; if you’re not white, you’re invisible unless you’re being...

It's obvious that this store caters to a more female clientele, of which I am not. Also, full disclosure, I was chasing a five year old around trying to make sure everything he touched ended up in the same place it was originally.

That being said, this really is a neat little shop to check out if you are in the area and interested in unique local stops.

My wife was mostly looking for some music related posters to hang in her office, and while she loved the Johnny Cash and Kitten poster we just didn't have the funds at the time. We'll probably come back sans kid when we do have the money though and also do a little more exploring. This little place is definitely worth it.

Oh, and if you are in to Disney pin collecting, they have a decent amount for $4 each. Ended up walking out with a Jack Skellington Disney pin, and a small plastic cat from a dollar donation, both for the kid. Maybe we do spoil...