Loot

I’ve been meaning to write a review for awhile, considering Loot is one of my regular Saturday afternoon stops. While not always affordable, the shop is rich with lust-​worthy antiques, gorgeous textiles, inspiring design books and a $ 2,000 couch that I’ve been crushing on for six months. It’s the kind of store that makes you want to be a decorator, if only so you can afford what’s actually sold in here. Love this place, and worth saving up.

As many times as I have passed it, I’ve never before been in Loot until this past Gallery Hop. One of the girls I was with wanted to stop in and so we took a few minutes to look through it. There was quite a bit here that I liked… but I couldn’t afford it. And it wasn’t just that it was expensive, it was that it was too expensive for what you were getting. Example — Beautiful paper sheets with metallic Eiffel Towers printed on them. $ 4.50. That’s just too much. Most of the stuff seemed like knick-​knacks to me and I’m definitely not a knick-​knack person but Jody was successful in finding a cute, duck shaped watering can for her little niece. So there are some hidden finds here!

Wow, Loot. Your sales associates have gotten more unfriendly. Didn’t think that was possible. But then again, some people must just have an art for blatantly ignoring a customer that is 6 feet away from them.
Also, update your stuff. A knock-​off, wanna-​be Marc Jacobs bag isn’t going to cut it. Yeah, that one with the cheap looking gold chain.

I went in here in search of antique jewelry and didn’t find much. This store is more about victorian style home décor, clothing, and a few bits of furniture.
That said I did find some interesting little notebooks and spent some time checking out a book collection in the back. Although I had fun poking around here on my lunch break I don’t see myself returning anytime soon, that is unless my grandma sends me on a trinket run.

This place really feels like it caters towards the stay at home mom crowd. I am not the stay at home crowd. I am the opposite of what they’re going for… however this place still has merit.
It gets a three not because I don’t like it but because the name and windows got me all excited and the inside was a big let down.
If you’re in to the faux antique look, there are less expensive places, but this is a nice place to get some ideas.

LOOT is a different animal, one I didn’t expect to find in the Short North. Though there are a lot of home accessories shops in the area, none are quite like this. LOOT has a very country-​crafts feel that I’m sure my mom would appreciate. The staff is nice, and the space is big. The home accessories might surprise you. I was a bit prejudice and didn’t expect to like anything, but I found some stuff decent things, though I didn’t buy them. Granted, the store targets an older female; I’d estimate about 45 years old. They have a bunch of baby stuff in the back room. All the furniture is distressed. The clothing looks matronly to me, but I’m used to shopping Wet Seal or the juniors section of Macy’s.

I like the set up up, overall. I walked in while I waited for a pizza from bonoPIZZA around the corner. But Loot awkwardly tows the line between legitimate antique shop and yuppy craft destination. The window is really appealing to me. I thought I was going to walk into an explosion of tiny artifacts and giant weird stuff that would keep my interest for awhile. I kept pacing around the store looking for at least one thing that would give me a reason to linger for a bit. It turned out to be a random book on photography. I don’t even know if it was actually for sale, or if it was just there to make the table look homey. Regardless, I set the book down and walked back for my pizza uninspired.

Loot is yet another home décor boutique in the Short North. They stock plenty of too-​hip faux-​antiques and handcrafted goods. In the back of the store are lots of too-​hip baby clothes and accessories. All that being said, I still wanted almost everything in the store.
Of course, the one-​of-​a-​kind nature of some of the items means they come with a price to match. Those high prices carried over to the not-​so-​unique things too. Sadly, the store somehow manages to be the most overpriced shop in the Short North, and that’s really saying something. (I mean there’s a Segway store here!) Items that I’ve seen in other similar stores seem to cost 25 or 50 percent more here. It all left me fairly disappointed.

Tiny store full of an odd assortment of things — Christmas ornaments, jewelry, bath salts, lingerie… and the cutest baby clothes and toys. Slightly overpriced but colorful and adorable. A definite must for baby shower gifts!