Renovation Source, the architectural salvage place at 3512 N Southport, is closing shop. According to the signs posted, “Everything Must Go” by Sunday, June 11. All the merchandise is marked down, from 25 to 50 percent off the sticker prices. You might think that as the end approaches, you’d be able to negotiate further, and you can try, but the sale is being conducted by an operation called auctionBay, which handles estate and liquidation sales. Which means you’ve got to assume that they have some plan for whatever doesn’t sell in terms of a bulk load-off, so if you’re looking for fire sale bargains, you might be disappointed.
You’ll find the usual salvage items — recycled decorative elements, hardware, fixtures, and structural items like doors, windows and millwork.
Nothing — at least nothing that’s left, and it’s not unlikely that special customers and other dealers have already been in to skim off the best stuff — is knock-your-socks-off-gotta-have-it.
Although the location — 50 feet of frontage on Southport — is certain to give way to a condo project, the lure of filthy real estate lucre probably wasn’t even the major factor influencing the owners in deciding to close. More likely, it’s that there are other sources in the Chicago market that do salvage so much better. Just visit Architectural Artifacts, on Ravenswood south of Montrose, one of the best salvage outlets in the country [even though the prices make you wonder who could possibly afford any of it] for a comparison, and you’ll see why this place finally decided to throw in the towel.