When I grew up in Italy, secondhand shopping was far from cool. We immigrated to New York in 1984, when I was seven. As a family, we didn’t have much money and would make the most of the secondhand stores. A lot of people think these shops are dirty, smelly and full of junk people don’t want – but to me they are treasure troves.
In 2014 I got married, and my partner and I were trying to furnish our first rented apartment. I had worked three jobs to put myself through college, and money had always been a strain. I found homeware shops so stressful, I even cried in one: everything was so expensive and it felt impossible to buy anything. I ended up going to secondhand stores and was shocked at what people had given away. I found $3,000 sofas being sold for $100, midcentury candlesticks and retro dining tables with chairs from the 80s.
