Funky Stuff Worcester: A one of a kind experience

By Rachel Shuster

Located at 113 Lovell Street in Worcester, Funky Stuff Worcester makes the nontraditional more of the norm. A mix between thrift store, consignment shop and art gallery, this store guarantees a one-of-a- kind experience.

Longtime friends Adrian Demers and Kai Griffiths opened Funky Stuff in November of last year. “Kai and I both love art and music, are artists ourselves, and have a bunch of friends who are artists. We wanted to do something new and different, and help our friends sell their art. There’s really nothing like it in Worcester. A lot of people want good quality art, but aren’t able to afford it. We wanted to have our friends be able to sell good quality art at a reasonable price,” Demers says.

Some of the items you’ll find in store include paintings, handmade jewelry, clothes, sculptures, furniture, posters, antiques, and records. Funky Stuff has several local artists who put their work on consignment at the store, and Demers and Griffiths are always looking for new talent.  They also help facilitate custom work.

“We have customers give us details of what they want and we’ll pass it along to the artist, or we’ll put them in direct contact with the artists and they’ll create the work from there,” Demers says.

As for pricing, Demers says that the artists decide what they think their work is worth, then the store gets a percentage ~ but the artists get the majority. “After all, the artists are the ones doing all the work,” Demers adds.

Some events that Funky Stuff has done and plans to repeat in the future include a wine tasting and gallery showing, as well as contests where you can win free merchandise from the store. “Customers come in, leave us with contact info, then we do a raffle drawing at the end of the month, and they can win pieces of art, gift cards, etc.,” Demers explains.

Funky Stuff Worcester is open Wednesday-Sunday 11 am – 7pm and is closed Monday & Tuesday. Check out www.funkystuffworcester.com for more info!