Urban Garage Sale

MY APOLOGIES TO ANYONE I MAY HAVE ELBOWED.
Well worth the $ 3 cover in my opinion. The Heavy Rotation table was chaos but worth it for $ 5 shirts! I picked up some local artisan-​made jewelry for holiday gifts. Saw my friends Man vs. George selling their designer greeting cards. A great event but minus one star for the log-​jam entry fee funnel effect.
Recall Walker folks were INSIDE the venue on the steps leading to the entrance.

Summed up in 10 words or less.
Great semi-​annual garage sale with local stores and designers.
What is the Experience?
The Urban Garage Sale is a semi annual event hosted by the radio station 88.9FM and draws about two dozen booths. Hipster and funky is really the best way I can describe this event. Local stores, artists, clothing designers, and crafters set up booths while a DJ spins background music. There is also a bar in case you’d like a couple PBRs while u shop.
While you will find things like knit mittens, screen printed wolf tees and old school artistic buttons, it is not a ‘grandma craft/​art fair’. This garage sale is definitely geared to the young and those young at heart. Local stores include Hot* Pop, Chartreuse, Flair Boutique, Fred Boutique, Rishi Tea, and t-​shirt brand Heavy Rotation.
Who Goes There?
Suffice it to say that myself, and my two friends were looking for a deal on local goods. From the looks of the Heavy Rotation $ 5 t-​shirt booth, I suspect most of the attendees were also looking for a deal on stocking stuffers. We spent about an hour at the sale and the crowd spanned ages 18 to about 40. Its a good bet to say if a person likes the store Urban Outfitters they will probably like this sale.
What Should I Expect?
Well what I didn’t expect was to pay a $ 3 cover. This is the reason that this event is not getting five stars. Personally, I don’t like the idea of paying to attend an event, to then make more purchases. With that being said, you can expect to save money.
Every thing is offered at significant discounts. At the Heavy Rotation t-​shirt booth every shirt was $ 5 which in many cases is over 60% off the Urban Outfitters retail prices. Rishi Tea also had deep discounts, and two of my friends picked up dresses and accessories from Chartreuse at 50% discounts.
With a $ 3 ATM fee, expect to bring cash to the event. Some stores accepted credit cards, but they were using the old (REALLY OLD) carbon copy paper and credit card slider machines to record sales. To me that spells T-​R-​O-​U-​B-​L-​E. If the vendor misplaced box while packing up that could mean months of you trying to straighten out fraudulent charges.
Lastly, expect to be surprised by the venue– the Turner Ballroom. While the building is in serious need of rehab, the Urban Garage Sale is a great event for showing off the ballroom’s ‘bones’. The unfinished nature of the room really enhances the atmosphere of the garage sale. With all the comforts of being inside during the first big storm of the year, the huge windows, uneven floors, the character of the slightly slanted staircases and banisters, and the raw wood and concrete makes you feel like you are in an outdoor market in Chicago or a loft sale in the garment district in NYC. Much to the credit of the organizers, to be at a Milwaukee event and actually feel transported to a different city is worth the $ 3 cover for most people.