Vintage, Recycled & Handmade in Lancaster, PA

Lancaster, PA has much more to offer than a glimpse of the Amish folks that live on near by farms. We were interested in exploring the local shops and thrift stores, something different from the main stream mall experience, so we headed to the downtown area to have a look.

We visited several thrift stores (more on those soon) but for this post we wanted to share one place in particular.

Building Character is a marketplace of Vintage, Recycled and Handmade goods, offering 40+ shops in a 10,000-square-foot historic warehouse space in the heart of the downtown Lancaster, PA.  Building Character also offers a variety of events and classes. They are also the home of the Heritage Press Museum, which is dedicated to preserving the art of letterpress printing, through workshops and regularly scheduled public demonstrations.

Stop 1.

Building Character
342 N Queen Street
Lancaster, PA 17603
(717) 394-7201
Hours:
Monday-Friday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday 12:00 – 5:00 pm

MAP
*Restrooms available
**Food & Coffee available nearby

We spent quite a long time checking out the various vendor booths. We were surprised by not only the variety of creative handmade products and vintage goods for sale but the very clever displays that each vendor had arranged in their booths.

Have you ever been drawn into a shop because of the way the merchandise was so creatively displayed? It makes you want to poke around and look through every last item? Thats the feeling we had while walking through Building Character!

So many clever ideas and such pride in the presentation…if I was giving out gold stars they’d get a bunch! There is so much to look at and shop for… vintage, mid-century, retro, industrial…

Salvage, handmade jewelry, up-cycled furniture, vintage clothing, vintage photographs, ephemera…

This is the type of place I would be sure to frequent if I lived closer. What a great place to find unique, creative gifts and be help support the local artists  and entrepreneurs! This is NOT your typical group shop.

The prices at Building Character vary as does the inventory, but shoppers should be able to find something in their price range. The location is idea for exploring other shops and there are places to eat and have coffee.

There is free parking on the weekends, we found parking easily right on Queen Street but had to keep feeding the meter.

Photo Credit: Lancaster Online

We grabbed a very good cup of joe at Commonwealth on Queen, 301 North Queen Street, Lancaster, PA. Very cool interior, friendly staff and a nice view of the passers-by from the large windows – we’ll be sure to stop in for a bite to eat next time we’re downtown.

Downtown Lancaster, PA reminded us a bit of Portland, ME, offering unique shops and events. We’re looking forward to returning and sharing more of our adventures with you soon. In the meantime if you have any recommendations for places we should check out next time, please leave us a comment.