Market Imports

You cannot find a better selection of outdoor pottery in the Triangle. They are located next to the State Farmer’s Market, so in the summertime you can easily walk to both places. The staff is super friendly and helpful — they will carry larger items to your car for you.

I love «window shopping» here, lots of unique fun stuff. But, REALLY expensive! I can find the exact items at other antique shops for half the price. They have a lot of cast iron garden items and decorative items. The furniture is old and painted in most cases. Staff is very nice.

amazing, amazing, amazing! Great staff and the owners are wonderful… all stores should be like this! I travel a lot so I’m a decent judge of shopping selection. They have a nice selection of fountains, urns, planters, and furniture at various price points. The styles are traditional, classic, oriental with a small amount of contemporary.
The metal work is good and a nice selection of quality european antique garden furniture, pub tables, benchs, chairs, etc. The items move fast and the inventory changes so I visit when ever I’m in Raleigh. I went to buy just a few things however I went overboard. I had to rent a uhaul trailer to cart it back to Richmond VA. Even with the price of the trailer rental, I still saved. Probably the best selection north of Atlanta and south of Philly.
It’s mid to upper end, no high-​end. Remember to drive a truck or SUV. You’ll be disappointed with yourself when you find something you like and then either have to come back to pick it up or not buy it.
While there, walk over to the farmers market. There are some good baked good purveyors in the enclosed market. Raleigh is very lucky to have a farmers market of this quality. Oops, I guess I should write a review on the market.
You will not be disappointed with Market Imports (or the Raleigh Farmer’s Market)

Great old antiques and furniture including display items that Pottery Barn and others replicate — get the real deal. Good collection of chinese chests and lots of outdoor pottery.

One of those places you don’t really know how to classify. It’s off in a corner of the farmer’s market, of all places. That’s probably not a bad fit, but if you’re at the market looking to spend a few bucks on fresh veggies, you may not be likely to drop a few hundred on an antique-​looking armoire or buddha statue.
Obviously people do — or they think you want people do, because some of the tags have «sold» on them. And the stuff is cool. It’s like an Ikea of yard art and stuff you wouldn’t find anywhere else. Or perhaps be able to fit anywhere. At least 50% of the items wouldn’t even fit through the door of my house, which is what makes it so utterly cool.
Naturally you also have to wonder how much is authentic, but if you have the kind of cash to drop on this sort of thing, you may not care at all. If I had a few hundred for that metal alligator (and another thousand for several rusty babies), I wouldn’t. I mean they couldn’t have been more than a few years old, but does it really matter?
And not just one gazing ball, but dozens, in a single display, and several such displays? Awesomeness redefined.

This store has an odd assortment of mostly antique/​used garden accessories and hardware. A lot of it seemed to be cast iron or other cast metal. There are a lot of urns, trellises, fountains, and the like, as well as other decorative objets. It was an interesting place to poke around, but it didn’t suit my taste. I’m not much into the rusty look. The carved teak root plant stands were quite interesting. The staff was friendly, but not intrusive.