Glasgow is one of the best cities in Britain for vintage and antique hunting, and most of it happens well away from the obvious shopping streets. The French have a lovely verb for this kind of shopping, chiner: to rummage for treasure in second-hand places. Glasgow was built for it. This guide is our tour of the places we actually rate: a hundred-year-old weekend market, a dealer centre with more than ninety traders under one roof, and a string of small, obsessive shops across the Southside and West End, organised by neighbourhood with hours and practical notes for each. It ends with a suggested route for making a proper day of it, finishing (naturally) at our own door in the Merchant City.
Before you set out, three practical notes:
Bring cash for market stalls; almost every shop takes cards.
Check hours on the day. Small shops keep human hours, and that's part of why we love them.
Measure your space and your stairwell before you fall in love with a sideboard. Trust us.
Trongate & Merchant City: start where the city started
The oldest merchant quarter of the city is the natural place to begin. In the interest of an honest guide, it's where we live, so we'll declare ourselves first and hold ourselves to the same format as everyone else.
Bisous Bisous
That's us: Bisous Bisous at 20 St Andrews Street, a quiet turn off the Trongate. Our founder, interior designer Natasha Russell, curates the shop piece by piece: vintage and fine furniture, seating with its original character intact, lighting that changes a room at dusk, alongside ceramics, objets and smaller decorative finds, and Dr Osbourne skincare on the shelves by the till. You can read more about how we choose things on our about page. We're open Thursday and Friday 12.30 to 5.30pm and Saturday 11am to 4pm; outside those hours, get in touch and we'll arrange a time.
Good Press
We're lucky in our neighbours. Two doors along at 32 St Andrews Street is Good Press, a workers' co-operative bookshop devoted to independent and self-published printed matter, sharing its space with a risograph print studio. It is the best place in Glasgow to buy a book you didn't know existed, and the perfect first or last stop on this route.
From our corner, the East End's great weekend market is a ten-minute walk along the Gallowgate.
The East End: The Barras
The Barras at 244 Gallowgate has been trading for over a century, and it remains gloriously unpolished: indoor arcades and street stalls selling everything from records and militaria to porcelain, tools and genuinely good furniture, all under the famous Barrowland sign. It runs weekends only, 10am to 4pm, and rewards an early start. The best pieces move before noon. Haggle gently; it's expected, but it's a conversation, not a contest. Half of what's in the market on a Saturday morning will be gone by Sunday, which is precisely the fun of it.
The Southside
The Southside is where Glasgow's vintage trade has quietly put down its deepest roots: one enormous dealer centre and a cluster of small shops, each within a short bus or subway hop of the centre.
Kinning Park Antique Centre
The big one. Kinning Park Antique Centre at 39 Durham Street gathers more than ninety dealers in one warehouse. Georgian mahogany next to 1970s glass next to architectural salvage, with a cafe on site for the mid-rummage regroup. It's open seven days at the time of writing, though hours shift a little between weekdays and weekends, so check their Instagram before you set out. Allow two hours minimum; people routinely lose an afternoon here.
Battlefield Restoration
Battlefield Restoration at 151 Sinclair Drive restores and sells salvaged pieces, both domestic and industrial, and is particularly strong on rewired vintage lighting. If you've fallen for an old pendant but want it safe to plug in, this is where you go. The workshop and shop are open Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 4.30pm, with a late opening on Thursdays; hours can flex day to day, so a quick call ahead is wise.
28 Langside
Look for the peach door at 28 Langside Place. 28 Langside mixes ceramics from small Japanese potteries with vintage Kantha quilts from Bangladesh and a rotating cast of well-made things for the home. Note the unusual week: open Wednesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm and Sunday to Monday 11am to 4pm, closed Tuesdays.
Aume
Not vintage, but too good to leave out: Aume at 707 Pollokshaws Road in Strathbungo is a spare, carefully edited homeware shop (stoneware, glassware, prints) that sits happily alongside old pieces. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 6pm.
The West End
Rag & Bone
In The Hidden Lane at 1103 Argyle Street, Finnieston, through the tunnel off the main road, Rag & Bone deals in salvage, Scottish textiles and costume jewellery, densely packed and fairly priced. Open Thursday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm, with Monday to Wednesday by appointment.
Trove
Trove at 557A Dumbarton Road in Partick is the city's dedicated mid-century shop: original furniture, lighting and homeware from the 1950s to the mid-70s, much of it British-made, run with real knowledge by Jill Rodger. Opening times are posted on their Instagram week to week, so check before travelling.
The Glasgow Vintage Co
For dressing yourself rather than your house, The Glasgow Vintage Co at 453 Great Western Road, by Kelvinbridge, carries vintage clothing from the 1960s to the 1990s over two floors, including a lovely line in old Scottish knitwear.
Hoos
Hoos at 715 Great Western Road is contemporary rather than vintage (Nordic design houses and independent makers), but it's where we send people looking for a new object that will age into a keeper. Open daily.
And if you're walking between the centre and the West End, detour up to Guild Antiques & Restoration at 265 Renfrew Street, near the Glasgow School of Art. Part antique shop, part traditional upholstery workshop, its stock runs from Regency through Glasgow School to mid-century. Open Tuesday to Friday 10am to 6pm and Saturday 10am to 5pm.
By appointment and online
A good portion of Glasgow's vintage trade happens without a shopfront, and it's worth knowing before you plan a visit. None of these has a door you can simply walk through.
Retrovintage: mid-century and Danish furniture, much of it restored, with showrooms at Kinning Park and in Stewarton, Ayrshire. Browse online, then arrange a viewing.
Mid Century Glasgow: well-priced mid-century and retro furniture, viewed by appointment; stock appears on their Instagram.
Salvation: vintage and retro furniture sold online from Glasgow.
Hunt Vintage: a Glasgow-founded online marketplace pulling together vintage furniture from sellers across the city and beyond.
Make a day of it: our suggested route
Pick a Saturday. The Barras runs both weekend days, but our own door is only open Thursday to Saturday. Do it in this order:
1. 10am, Kinning Park Antique Centre. Start at 39 Durham Street with a coffee from the cafe and work the aisles while they're quiet. 2. Midday, into town. Take the subway from Kinning Park to St Enoch and walk east along Argyle Street into the Trongate. 3. 12.30pm, The Barras. Give the market a good ninety minutes. Buy the thing you keep circling back to; it will not be there next week. 4. 2.30pm, St Andrews Street. Wander back off the Gallowgate to our corner of the Merchant City. Browse the shelves at Good Press at number 32. 5. 3pm, finish at Bisous Bisous, 20 St Andrews Street. We're open until 4pm on Saturdays. Compare your trouvailles, see what's new in the collection, and if the day has planted an idea you'd like help finishing (a room, a corner, one stubborn wall) come and talk to us.
Everything above can genuinely be done on foot and one subway hop, which is the quiet advantage Glasgow has over almost anywhere: the good stuff is close together. Bonne chine.
