Otra Vez, a consignment store at 2314 W. Colorado Ave., is just a few steps away from the Goodwill Store — but the two have very dissimilar inventories. Goodwill’s inventory consists almost entirely of donated clothing, art, shoes, small appliances and kitchenware.
Goodwill shoppers expect to find items that are useful and affordable, but not remarkable.
But if you’d prefer a selected inventory of highly desirable things, check out Otra Vez (literally, Spanish for “Other Time”). Its goods are as varied as Goodwill’s, but carefully vetted by the store’s owner, Sydney Herrera. She describes it on the store’s website as “Consignment, vintage, art gallery. Small men’s department, Household goods, shoes. Curated.”
It’s a small storefront with a deep and high-ceilinged backspace. Herrera led a visitor on a tour of the inventory, starting with the store’s artworks. About 70 paintings, posters and prints are racked in bins and hung on the walls.
“We usually arrange artworks by theme or by artist,” Herrera said. “But these are all from a single collection.”
Most of the paintings were realistic landscapes created in the first half of the 20th century.
There are all from a single collection – Sydney Herrera
Among them: a sizable painting titled “Ullswater from Gowbarrow Fell,” by William Heaton Cooper. The artist, born in 1903, was an English landscape painter and a camouflage artist during World War II. The price: $188.
According to the tag, the painting had been consigned to Otra Vez on Nov. 23 of last year. The shop also offers more than a dozen similar landscapes, a couple of framed rock concert posters and multiple prints.
A particularly fascinating work of art from another consigner was a large ceramic horse (about three feet tall), probably from the 19th century, priced at $2,100.
But many more modest collectibles are available.
A small stoneware bottle inscribed “Seth Senior & Sons, Shepley, Huddersfield” had no explanatory note. An online search suggested that it was a 19th century beer bottle from an English brewery.
In 1829, Seth Senior launched a brewing business with a single gold sovereign. Years later, his sons joined the business, creating Seth Senior and Sons. The stone bottle could have held beer from any of several dozen English breweries.
A dozen men’s suits are available, all of the best quality, scarcely worn and extra-large. Shirts to match were there as well, as were ties.
Glass cases hold jewelry, an ornate silver hand mirror, an assortment of small jade sculptures and similar bric-a-brac.
And besides the art, antiques, shoes, clothing and jewelry, Otra Vez offers collectibles that are not easily classified. Right at the store’s entrance, sitting inconspicuously on a white plate, was a detailed and superbly rendered ceramic sculpture of a tied-up bundle of asparagus.
It seemed to encapsulate the spirit of Otra Vez — fun, cheerful, unexpected and warm.
IF YOU GO
Open hours vary; call 719-433-9864
