BLACK FRIDAY 40% Off everything!!!

Ah Louis - A History

The Ah Louis Store

            People ask us all the time for a little bit of history about the Ah Louis Store. I thought I would share with you what I have learned through the years and through some great visits with local folks who knew/worked for the Louis family.

            Ah Louis (also known as Wong On) started his store in 1874 as a mercantile and general merchandise store but it was also reportedly the post office, bank, and pharmacy for the SLO “Chinatown” area.  In 1886, the original wooden building was replaced by the present brick structure. The exterior also had large iron shutters that still remain on the windows and doors today that were to prevent fire from entering the building and for security.  The shelving, drawers, counters and bins that you see when you enter Vintage Etc. today are original to the store complete with hardware. The store still has the original safe that Ah Louis used as well as the original gas lamp (now just for looks) that was in the store. It must have been really dark, if that was the only light source! 

Upstairs is divided into small rooms where Ah Louis raised his family of 8 children! The brick store has been in continuous operation since 1886, first by Ah Louis, then by his son Howard. It is still owned by a descendant of the Louis family and we are honored to be able to lease it from the family! 

For more information please head over to the Historical Society Museum in the Carnegie Library near the Mission in our beautiful downtown. You won’t regret it, they have so much information and some beautiful pictures of the way things were in San Luis Obispo! 

I will try to post a bit more on Ah Louis himself soon, things are crazy busy around here and hopefully I will have some exciting news to share in the next couple of weeks! Stay tuned!

Happy Valentines Day!

Hope your day is just love-ly! Here is just a little bit of love from my pinterest page.

 

delectable-collectibles.tumblr.com

http://lindaalbrecht.typepad.com/simple_things/

weheartit.

Happy New Years from Vintage Etc!

 Vintage Etc.

will be closed on Monday,

December 31^st and Tuesday, January 1^st 

to celebrate New Years.

We will re-open on Wednesday, 

January 2^nd at 11:30. 

Have a happy and safe holiday!

Christmas Sale going on NOW!

SALE!

 All Christmas items

50% off!

Cool gift idea!

Saw this today on Pinterest (of course)  but was unable to find the original link. What an awesome gift idea!

I think this is actually fabric that looks like a paint by number but one could easily photocopy a vintage paint by number onto fabric or iron on and transfer. Or for those of you like to get your hands dirty, lay a blank piece of canvas over the pattern, draw it in then paint it in with fabric paints using the numbers and pattern themselves. 

What a beautiful pillow for any space! 

Hope your holiday gift lists are almost wrapped up! 

Come see us if you need a few more items! Just a reminder, Vintage Etc. will be closed December 24th through December 26th for our Christmas Holiday!

30 Days of Gratitude - Black Friday

Day 23

Today I am thankful for having the most AMAZING customers ever! Every one of you who stopped in to our store today, made me smile for so many reasons. People were in such wonderful and positive moods and were so sweet with their compliments. What an uplifting day! Today you not only supported a small business, but our family,  and me personally. You validated my decision to be in this business. Without such wonderful people to do business with it wouldn't be worth it, so thank you for being a part of our business family! Please tell a friend to support a brick and mortar store tomorrow for Small Business Saturday. It really does make a huge difference to all of us!

30 Days of Gratitude - Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving! Day 22

 

Today I am thankful that I got to enjoy a Thanksgiving feast with my husband at work at his fire station since he was on duty. It was a fabulous day! The kids got to ride their scooters around the station and see their Dad at work, which being that we live 100 miles away, doesn't happen very often. 

We even got to take a ride in the fire engine! I am feeling very blessed that my husband is a fireman and loves what he does. He is an amazing provider and his schedule allows for us to do so many things other families cannot. 

I hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Be safe if you are traveling and if you do brave the crowds for Black Friday, come and see us. Vintage Etc. will be open from 10am -7pm Friday and Saturday, and 11-5 on Sunday. God Bless!

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 21

Day 21

 

Today I am thankful for my scrapbooking / art / sewing / everything-I-have-for-anything-creative-lives-here room. I have been working on the store's windows over the last two days and have dug into this room multiple times for this or that. It is so nice to have a place to keep it "all!" I found myself at one point just staring at the room wondering what I did before I had this little space. Do you have a space like this in your home? Don't forget, Vintage Etc. will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving so we can be thankful with our families!

30 Days of Gratitude Day 20

Day 20

Today I am thankful for patience. Patience in my children, myself, and my mother. Patience that I could finally get one of the window displays done, with 2 kids in the back room (because Dad's at work and it's Thanksgiving break so there is no school,) and a really busy afternoon. Patience that prevented me from getting claustrophobic, freaking out, and killing myself in the fishbowl of our windows, that have glass on 2 sides, and get really warm from the chandeliers in them. Being patient is hard for me when I am under pressure and have the kids with me at work, but today was a great day and I am thankful. 

30 Days of Gratitude - Weekend Edition

 Day 19

Today I am thankful for my childrens' love of reading. They are out of school this week and this morning I woke up to holiday music playing on the TV and both of my kids reading in the front room. Uh, wow. Thank you book fairies!

 

Day 18

Today I am thankful for my ability to sew (thanks Mom!) My Sis-In-Law and I got the wild hair to add hearts to the elbows on some of my daughters sweaters. They turned out so cute and I got to start teaching my daughter to sew which has been on my "to do" list for quite a while. I hadn't done any hand sewing in quite a while and found it totally relaxing, and looking for more projects to do.   

Day 17

My beautiful Sis-In-Law with her babies. 

 Today I am thankful for my Sister-In-Law. Not only is she an amazing cook, and loves all things vintage, but the woman can rock a thrift store! I mean seriously, rock a thrift store! Today we had the ultimate shopping experience in our local thrifts, scoring some A-MA-ZING finds and laughing the whole time. I don't get to see her nearly enough but man we can do some damage together. 

Day 16

 

 

Today I am thankful for our vacuum cleaner. I know it sounds silly but I am always vacuuming! As I get ready for company, I realize I couldn't live without it. Our vacuum has been going strong for almost 10 years now and I love it! It is completely worn out in certain areas but it keeps on sucking!  

Day 15

Today I am thankful for working so close to a private school. Everyday they take the kids to the public library and they pass in front of our store. It is the sweetest sound to hear the children walking along and laughing. It totally brightens my day every time I hear them.

30 Days of Gratitude

Day 14

Today I am grateful for having a job at my beautiful store. All be it stressful being a small business owner at times, it is wonderful being your own boss and having a beautiful place to go and work in. I love doing the displays and searching for the vintage items on our customer wish list. I am blessed to be able to do this!

What are you grateful for today?

Day 13

 

 Today I am grateful for having dental insurance and a medical reimbursement fund because by the time we are done at the dentist, I am pretty sure my daughters mouth with cost as much as the car pictured above!

30 Days of Gratitude

So while I was out of town, I somehow managed to turn off my scheduled posts...yeah, technology and I arn't the best of friends at time! So today I am extra thankful! Have a wonderful Veteran's Day. Please give some love to those who fight for our freedom and to those who support our troops at home. 

Day 12

Today I am thankful for the men, and women who serve our country every day and especially to those who have served or given their life for this country. I am thankful that they are/were willing to put their lives on the line for my freedom so that I may live and work in a place without terror and violence.

Day 11

Today I am thankful to all the families, wives, and parents of these men and women, the true heros who serve our nation thanklessly. Thank you, yours is not an easy job.  Without you supporting them on the home front, we could not be a free nation. 

 

Day 10

Today I am thankful for living in a small town. While the bright lights of this beautiful city are fun for a weekend, the chaos, cars and massive numbers of people everywhere are a bit too much for me! Small town, USA is where I belong.

Day 9

Today I am thankful for artistic shows like Cirque Du Soleil. What an overwhelmingly cool experience! The directors who can create shows like this and the performers who can do the skills needed for these performances are in a nutshell, AMAZING! If you ever get a chance to see one, do it! This is the second show I have seen and I am always impressed and amazed!

 Day 8

Today I am thankful for a weekend with this gal who lives far, far away.
Thankful for growing new friendships and time to catch up with old friends. I am blessed to have such wonderful women in my life!
Good times with great friends are always something to be thankful for!

Day 7

Today I am thankful for pilots who can, not only take off and fly, but land the plane too! Oh and some really cool people that I got to sit next to while I was on my flight!