The end of an era as decades-old vintage furniture shop in Old East Village shuts down

After almost three decades in business, a longstanding vintage furniture shop in London's Old East Village neighbourhood will permanently shut its doors this weekend. 

Funky Find on Dundas Street has been a staple in the community, selling mid-century modern furniture and antiques since 1997. It brought in customers searching for all kinds of funky items, said owner David Thomson. 

"People tell me what they've bought over the years, they'll come in and mention things they got and what they still have. It feels great," said Thomson. 

"In the past, there were a lot of regular customers because I was really the only furniture store in town and that was before Kijiji and Marketplace. It never mattered to me if people bought something as long as they came in and looked and enjoyed stuff."

After owning a cab company for years prior, Thomson said he was looking for a change. He started refinishing furniture and eventually opened the store, near Aeolian Hall, where it was for its first decade. Later, it moved down the road, closer to Adelaide Street, where it's been ever since.

Thomson said his stock started with "kitschy items" and furniture Thomson redid using aniline dies and colours, and later became a hub for modern Danish designs. Thomson used to scour auctions to purchase things but when antiques and Danish furniture became more popular, things got expensive. He then looked to newspaper ads and sales to find supply.

"People used to bring me stuff but now they can sell it themselves which has turned into competition. It's not just other businesses, it's people selling out of their garages," he said. 

Similar to his furniture, Thomson has had many "eccentric customers" over the years as well, he said. One of them was an elderly woman who found a vintage croquet set and started playing the game in the store during its early days, he shared, with a chuckle.

Although he initially wanted to name the store "Funked Up", Thomson had to let that idea go.

"I got talked out of Funked Up because 27 years ago that would've been a little out there, so I went with Funky Find since the things I used to refinish were really colourful and out there." 

Angela Kyabaggu has owned K-Laba Beauty Supplies two doors down from Thomson since 1996. She said she's bought desks and chairs from Funky Find over the years and described the store as "one of the main icons of the neighbourhood."

"It's quite an amazing place so it's sad to see them leave the neighbourhood because they've been one of the [mainstays] here where people can come and get unique items," she said. "It's a big loss for the neighbourhood. We will definitely miss them very much."

Thomson, 61, said he wanted to keep the store running until he was 65, but a decline in foot traffic followed by years of construction — coupled with new landlords and rising post-pandemic costs — made it hard to keep business afloat. 

"Now, I can't afford to stay here. New landlords bought the place, doubled the rent, and there's no traffic," he said. "There used to be more businesses so more regular people around, but the pandemic sped up real estate and landlords tripled rents, so businesses moved."