In 40th Year of Business, Chattel Changers Embraced by Another Generation

Tim Vertz makes the trip to Shorewood from Riverwest just about every week with one destination in mind, but not always with a clear purpose.

At Chattel Changers, like dozens of other regulars at the store, Vertz gets his "old things" fix.

"It's almost like a lifestyle," Vertz said.

Vertz said his house is full of vintage items that he finds mostly at Chattel Changers. They suit his living habits, he said, of resisting technology and the devaluing of possessions.

"I'll put it this way," he said. "If all the satellites go out, I'll be able to plant a garden, milk a cow, and ride a horse."

Chattel Changers Manager Marie Ulsberger said business has been consistently comfortable for the 20 years she has worked there, thanks in large part to regulars like Vertz who can't get enough of the vintage furnishings they dig up from estate sales and individuals.

"You get to know people on a first name basis," Ulsberger said. "You know their families, you know their dog, and you know half the things they own in their house."

Ulsberger said some of her customers now are the children of former customers who are setting up their own houses.

"Time marches on, it's true," she said, although walking through the store, one's sense of time is distorted, with the juxtaposition of things like a Marilyn Monroe poster and impressionist oil painting.

For Chattel Changers, the passing of time matches a changing of style — but with at least a 20-year delay, Ulsberger said. She said items from the 70s are especially popular, and things from the 80s are starting to gain attention.

"Once you get past the 20-year mark, you start to romanticize about things," Ulsberger said. "That's why wars continue to happen, because after 20 years, you start to romanticize the things like sitting around the radio listening to reports, and the bad things lessen."

Chattel Changers gets the bulk of its inventory from cleaning out estates, generally after their owners have passed away. They deal with everything left in the house, taking what they think will sell for the store and donating the rest to charity. Ulsberger said it's during the cleanouts that she gets the best sense for the life put into the items they sell.

"My favorites are the 90-year-old ladies because they kept little notes about everything and you get to peak into what life was like," she said. "You can just imagine the fun dinner parties they would have had with these things."

Ulsberger said it's common for people to come in and not buy anything at all; but they just soak in the nostalgia they feel from the items.

"Some people like to come in for what they call their 'mental moment,'" Ulsberger said. "People say they can feel a warmth from the things. People loved these things."

Others are drawn to the store for comparatively low prices offered by the secondhand items.

"They're low prices for high quality things," she said. "Much of our stuff today is made in China and it's not made to last. It's actually planned obsolescence. We have things here that thought was put into. Design, and form, and craftsmanship."

In fact, Ulsberger said the store often does better in hard economic times because people are looking for bargains, but they also want to feel good about what they buy. She said when people have less expendable income; they actually spend more on small luxury items at the store.

"When you have bad economic times, there are two areas that never suffer: cosmetics and costume jewelry," she said. "People want to feel good about themselves and it's something where you can buy a ring and get a compliment on it without spending too much money."