Event is a bargain-hunter’s paradise
Middleton is site of humongous Attic Sale fundraiser
Usually, the destination is the most important part of a trip and shopping is done on impulse — perhaps just a Tshirt grabbed at the last minute from an airport kiosk. For some, however, shopping is the main reason for the journey.
The latter is the case for many who travel hundreds of miles to the Madison area’s annual Attic Sale, which is now in its fifth decade and can best be described as an “estate sale on steroids,” said Nancy Latta, spokeswoman for the event.
Several thousand people are expected to come to this annual fundraiser, which was once known as the “Attic Treasure Sale.” It will be held on June 2 and 3 at the Keva Sports Center, the second time it’s been held there after moving from Edgewood High School.
More than 5,000 items, ranging from jewelry to housewares to furniture, will be displayed over nearly 36,000 square feet of space normally devoted to indoor soccer, basketball and volleyball courts.
Latta said the sale usually raises between $80,000 and $100,000 for nonprofit Dane County programs that support children and older adults.
She said the sale is part of Attic Angel Association, which was founded in 1889 and is one of the oldest philanthropic organizations in Wisconsin.
“It was started by the Bryant sisters, who scoured their attic to help out a family with newborn twins,” Latta said. “The girls’ father dubbed them the ‘Attic Angels’ and the organization has grown from there, opening the first nursing home in Madison and the first visiting nurse service. There has always been a need to raise money.
The sale is focused on antiques and furnishings, Latta said. “But it’s not stuffy, and generations of university students have furnished their apartments with things they found here. We get people from more than 200 miles away who come here.”
Margaret Roggensack, a retired occupational therapist from Lancaster in western Wisconsin, said she’s made the 90-mile trip — often with a good friend from Mineral Point — for the past 30 years.
“I nearly always shop when I travel,” Roggensack said. “I have a daughter who lives in Washington, D.C., and when I visit her, I usually go to thrift stores there because they have interesting things.”
“But this trip to Madison is just for the Attic Sale,” she said. “My main focus for going is to search for unusual items like jewelry for my daughterin-law. My friend and I are often looking for things that are different and hard to find.”
She said the Attic Sale has a China department where she’s purchased items in patterns that are no longer made. An avid cook, she also scours the cookbook section to add to her collection.
“I once got a teapot to match the Stangl Pottery pattern that you can’t find anymore,” she said. “It was something that someone had donated because they were downsizing, or perhaps it came from an estate of someone who’d passed away. I always put this sale on my calendar and I recommend it to friends, too.”
But it’s the jewelry section that draws her back year after year.
“Sometimes I’m able to find pieces that are truly amazing,” she said. “My daughter-in-law, who is the director of the Gammage Theater at Arizona State University in Phoenix, tells me she’s gotten lots of compliments for what I’ve given her.
“She’s on the Tony Awards committee and goes to lots of Broadway shows as part of her job, so she needs different jewelry because she can’t wear the same thing every time. Being able to find beautiful pieces for her is a lot of fun.”
Though the jewelry may have once been expensive, Roggensack said she doesn’t spend a ton of money during her Attic Sale outings. She tries to limit herself to dropping $175 or less at the event.
And sometimes she does buy things on impulse.
“One of the first sales I went to, I ended up buying a large chair that I liked,” she said. “My husband — who does not like to shop — went off to do some other things. When he returned, we found we couldn’t get it into the car. We ended up calling a friend who stored it for us until we could get a bigger vehicle to transport it home.”
Lucy Harr, who lives outside Stoughton, said she usually goes on the second day of the sale.
“I’m a thrifter and a bargain hunter at heart,” she said. “And you really can find some treasures at this resale.”
She said she often stays until the last hour of the event, from noon to 1 p.m. on Saturday, when shoppers can pay $5 for a reusable bag that they can fill to their heart’s content.
“One year, when I was involved in a fundraiser for the Center for Families, I was able to pick up a lot of tablecloths and a punch bowl,” Harr said. “My strategy is usually to go with a list and a plan, but I sometimes pick up things I can’t resist.”
More information: Doors open at the Keva Sports Center at 8 a.m. June 2. Early bird shoppers can purchase a $10 ticket, starting at 7 a.m., to shop from 8 to 11 a.m. June 2. Tickets may also be purchased in advance at the Attic Angel Association, 640 Junction Road. The sale opens to other bargain hunters, at no charge, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 2 and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 3.
For more, see atticangel.org or call (608) 662-8842.
For ideas on other things to see and do in the Madison area, see visitmadison.com.
Getting there: The Keva Sports Center, 8312 Forsythia Road, Middleton, is about 90 miles west of Milwaukee via I-94, Highway 18 and Airport Road.