Rad Pop! Vintage Emporium occupies a storefront at 5820 North Broadway in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood, on the city’s far north side just blocks from the lakefront, where it operates as a queer-owned mini antique mall built around a handful of independent vendors rather than a single owner’s inventory. Four vendors currently share the floor space, each curating their own corner of the shop, so the mix spans art, vintage clothing, home decor, glassware, furniture, and lighting, and the selection shifts as each vendor rotates in new finds. That vendor-booth model means a return visit can turn up an entirely different set of pieces than the last trip, which is part of the draw for regular Edgewater shoppers and collectors who treat the emporium as a rotating discovery spot rather than a one-time browse.
What sets Rad Pop apart from a typical vintage shop is what shares the building with it: RAD Hair Salon operates out of the same location, so visitors can shop the vintage floor and then book a haircut or color appointment with one of the salon’s stylists in the same stop. The salon runs by appointment only, while the emporium itself keeps regular walk-in hours Thursday and Friday from noon to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., staying closed Monday through Wednesday. That schedule makes it an easy stop for a weekend Edgewater outing, whether paired with a walk along the lakefront or a visit to the neighborhood’s other small shops and restaurants along Broadway.
Being queer-owned is part of the identity the shop leans into openly, and it shows in the curation: the vintage clothing and decor mix skews toward pieces with personality and individuality rather than generic secondhand basics, and the combined retail-and-salon concept reflects a broader idea of the space as a community hangout rather than a purely transactional shop. Edgewater has long been one of Chicago’s more eclectic, walkable lakefront neighborhoods, and a vintage emporium that doubles as a salon fits naturally into that mix of independent, personality-driven small businesses. Shoppers can follow the emporium’s Instagram for updates on new vendor drops and salon booking availability, and the shop can also be reached directly by phone for questions about current stock or salon scheduling.
For anyone exploring Chicago’s north side vintage and antique scene, Rad Pop! Vintage Emporium stands out less for any single category of merchandise and more for the combination of a genuinely rotating, multi-vendor secondhand floor with an in-house hair salon under one Edgewater roof, an unusual pairing that turns a simple vintage-shopping errand into a longer, more social stop. Visitors who want art, clothing, decor, glassware, furniture, or lighting with real character, alongside the option to get their hair done without leaving the building, will find few other spots in the city offering quite that same combination. In short, Rad Pop! Vintage Emporium is a queer-owned, four-vendor vintage mini-mall and hair salon in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood, open Thursday through Sunday, selling vintage clothing, art, decor, glassware, furniture, and lighting curated by local vendors.
