It's a carefully curated magpie's nest of vintage treasures and oddities, and it's now open to all vintage fanatics.
From records and clothing, restored furniture and old Mobil petrol pumps and authentic Hollywood stage lamps, Capital Bazaar caters to an eclectic range of buyers.
It all began two-and-a-half years ago with the sale of a vintage lamp on Facebook marketplace, and is now a joint venture between Alex Csavar and Simon Duffy.
Expanding their business in Fyshwick onto the site of the old Canberra Antiques centre, Mr Csavar previously owned the Snap Collective, a mid-century modern furniture store located next door.
With an Instagram site boasting more than 40,000 followers, and 20 years of restoration experience, Mr Csavar knows he has a reputation to uphold.
"I'm a Virgo. A perfectionist," Mr Csavar said. "If I wouldn't have a piece in my house, I don't want my customers to have it in their house."
With the growing popularity of digital marketplaces and the closure of many free standing bricks-and-mortar antique shops, Mr Duffy said Capital Bazaar's new emporium-style approach will offer a larger collection compared to most classic single dealer antique stores.
Rather than specialising in a certain kind of curio, Capital Bazaar hosts both professional collectors with their own businesses and solo sellers looking to part with old family relics.
"It gives the opportunity for smaller hobby collectors, part-time dealers, people who just have an interest in a side hustle, to lease a space, run a stall, do something that they are also passionate about, but not have to open a full-blown antique shop," Mr Duffy said.
While Mr Csavar's main passion will always be for collecting and reviving mid-century modern furniture, he is excited to create a space for more unique sellers.
"Our point of difference is that everything's vintage and antique," he said.
"When you've got 10 to 20 different dealers in one place, all seeking and stocking their best items, you're guaranteed to find some interesting things."
Far from grandma's mothball riddled doilies, Mr Duffy insists a piece of vintage furniture can be the perfectcentrepiece in anyone's lounge room.
"You can go to a Kmart and you can buy a generic jug or a pot, but there's something special about finding that one off, unique piece tucked in the corner of a shop somewhere," he said.
"It's finding and treasuring that, and knowing that it's something special."
While vintage collectables can be notorious for their big price tags compared to mass-produced products from a large scale retailer, Mr Csavar said antique pieces are built to last.
"There's a blue chair that I've sold three times in the last eight years. Same condition, same everything," he said.
With unique pieces like a set of chairs from Old Parliament House, and another couple once used by top executives from the Royal Bank of Australia in the 1960s, Mr Csavar and Mr Duffy said that there's more to antiques than just style.
"It's not just a chair, it's a chair with a story ... people like to have a little piece of history," Mr Duffy said.
Fyshwick has long been the go-to district for vintage and antique hunting, with Dirty Janes and Vintage Emporium offering similar eclectic experiences nearby.
Here are some of the other vendors you can check out this weekend at Capital Bazaar:
- Last Century MCM: Mr Csavar's personal business, dealing in mid-century modern pieces from the UK, Denmark and Australia
- Braidwood Antiques: Quirky collectables with a mixture of traditional, mid-century modern and industrial furniture, kitchenalia, and art.
- Little Tikki Vintage: Mid-century favourites, with glass antiques and miniatures
- Carpe Diem: Eclectic vintage shop with a collection of colourful glassware and ceramics
- Old Soul Revival: Offering a wide range of repaired and restored furniture, decor and collectables
- Atkin Avenue: Pre-loved treasures and knick-knacks
- Annie's Collectables: An affordable range of antiques curios
- Orienta vintage: Vintage second-hand clothing and accessories
- Red Square vintage: Rustic furniture and collectables
- Hummingbird vintage: Men and Women's vintage clothing and home wares
- Book Runner: Bookseller with a range of classic and retro editions
