Quality/Quantity - 40 to 50+ vendors, think COOP. See pictures. Sorry, I could have done a better job with taking pictures. Atmosphere - I forget how big this place was. Security and bag check as you enter. She even laughed at my joke that my wife could fit a couch in my wife's purse, lol. Even when it was Bed, Bath and Beyond, the size always surprised me. Bathrooms I believe are in the very back of the building but I did not check or use them. Open 7 days a week from 11am to 7pm. Usually plenty of street parking, 2-4 hours free. But not today; it was crazy busy. We noticed a farmers market a block away...??? Paid parking garages are also available. Service - Friendly door greeter. Again, she even laughed at my joke, lol. Price - Depends on what you buy. Owner Comment - Congrats on your success since 2016. read more

See all

Found some great items here today. Namely, Abraham, Palatnik, mother, and baby giraffes in Lucite. I added them to my collection and I am so excited to now have them. read more

See all

I seem to have aged out of the Alameda Flea as it pivots to mainly Y2K clothing offerings -- thank god I found Narrative as my replacement. The space is large, beautiful, calm, and welcoming. And they seem to have more space they can grow into! I have been here 5 or 6 times and have never left empty handed. It's all furniture, art, home goods, and books. Right up my alley. Some of my favorite home accessories, unique pieces of furniture, special and relatively high-end art, and interesting antique books are from here. While furniture in particular skews mid century modern, it's not as acute as the Alameda Flea and they still offer time period variety. I've gotten such a great array of antiques here -- the curation of vendors is ideal for me. Parking is easy and the staff is friendly. Just love coming here when I'm in the area! read more

I recently checked out the new Narrator store. It's basically the same location, but bigger than ever and the new space lends itself so well to the fun and eclectic vibe of this shop. I'm not a huge vintage collector, but I wanted to find a vase with some character and they did not disappoint. There were fun vases and more. I think strolling through to see what they have could be a new favorite Jack London square activity because it could take an hour or more to take a look at all the different sections. read more

Narrative - Showroom floor - Antiques Near Me - Oakland, California

Beautiful store with great inventory! Bought a couple of items here before Christmas and returned post Christmas with the kids. They loved the experience. It's like being in a well organized and clean art gallery. read more

Have I found my new favorite spot in the Bay? I love interior design, tsotchkes and art, and I love old things. Narrative is all of those things. I could walk around and explore this vintage/art/home decor spot for hours. It's basically a coop of different, mostly home and art dealers displaying and selling their goods. Lots of mid century modern stuff. Although no purchases, it still was a great time. The one drawback: Bay Area prices. Still some gems to be had, especially if you value old and well made vs new west elm, but I wouldn't say there were many steals (although always in the eye of the beholder). read more

Beautiful, fun and quirky artwork. High quality prints, reasonable prices, packaged very well and shipped quickly. Will be buying more from them! read more

What a wonderful place to come and shop for some beautiful one-of-a-kind items. I hadn't realized that each area is curated by different vendors/sellers because of how beautifully everything flows. I did walk out empty handed because it was a little pricer than I had anticipated...not to say that I wouldn't buy something if I had the budget, but simply don't right now. I had a few questions and found someone to help me...they were friendly and helpful. Will definitely be back to shop!!! read more

Great selection on valued vintage items, courteous welcoming staff, beautifully displayed in a voluminous interior space. read more

See all

Today's outing brought a huge "new to me" surprise to my eyes for those art furniture seekers who love to look at the re-sale of collections from other collectors, individuals and art preservationists for the next generation to seize, honor and admire. I happened upon Narrative, a "Premier Vintage Design collective" in the former space of Bed Bath and Beyond in the Jack London Square neighborhood. The space is massive and has a lot of natural light and open air ceiling with hardwood floors. The owners really did a fine job on renovating the space to make it comfortable for all. Staff shared that a small cafe will be forthcoming, too! What a surprise and to see how expansive it is inside. Lots of great pieces that are curated and edited by staff/vendors to delight the consumer. If you do not have a design esthetic, pay attention to how each group is edited and you will find your design groove or at least embellish what you have in the making. This is not a muted store with no colors, there are lots of colors popping everywhere. You know that thought, if you wait and go back days later thinking the piece you had your eye on will still be there, think again, it may not. If you really like it, buy it before someone else does. I was like a kid in the biggest art gallery store and then it kept getting bigger and bigger and better with more items to look at. I left with 3 pieces and a small painting. There is plenty of street parking. Narrative is open daily from 11 am to 7 pm. The staff is courteous and attentive and open to helping you put pieces aside that you want while you continue shopping. I will say no more as Narrative is a must see for collectors of all walks of life. They also have a monthly free admission, pet friendly Oakland Vintage Market each first Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm with at least 50 vendors at 222 Jefferson street. read more

See all

Nice stuff and I want everything! It's so hard to be selective and decorate my place without cluttering the place.

Love love love love love love this store. Such amazing stuff, beautifully curated. Great people. My favorite store in Oakland.

I don't know guys, I wanted to love the new expansion but its kind of overwhelming. Yes there's so many gorgeous, interesting pieces but dare I say the soul has been squeezed out. So not to say there isn't a wealth of customers for them (no pun intended) but it's only really geared towards a certain tier of financial success. Or more realistically the people they hire to have good taste for them. read more

Narrative is an absolutely fabulous addition to the Oakland home decor / vintage / art scene. Housed in the old Bed Bath and Beyond space in Jack London Square, it is huge! But that's just the starting point. The eclectic mix of furniture, vinyl, art, sculpture, pottery, knick knacks (and so much more) is beautifully curated, and affordable. I go there often, and I have never left without purchasing something. A great end table, a mid-century modern lamp, a cool painting, or a beautiful vase...if you need a gift and want something unique, this is the place to go. Even if you are not in the mood to purchase, it is a wonderful place to while away a few hours. I had family visiting from NY this week, and we spent time at Narrative and they were amazed. Check it out - it is well worth your time... read more

the shop has great pieces, but beware as they do not disclose the actual condition of the pieces. i spent 15k there and bought amongst many things a sofa. the piece was staged against others and the back wasn't exposed. once it was delivered to its destination we realized the whole back of the sofa was sun damaged. a fact that was not apparent at the store since the back was not exposed and it seems the booth owners had not inspected the piece either. it took forever for them to get back to me and they blamed me for the problem instead of acknowledging they played a part on the issue at hand. the owner of narrative told me she is not a "flea market" but she certainly presents as one. she was completely condescending. i have worked in home furnishing for almost a decade and when something like this happens, you usually offer at least a discount. this was their oversight as much as it was mine. but i guess they do not need my business. most vintage sellers are forth coming about flaws. they were not and were extremely unhelpful and rude about it. they will never see my money again and i will let my circle (which is pretty wide) know what to expect from them as a business. p.s. just some facts: furniture was purchase on mid july , between the 13th-16th, and greg was contacted on the 27th. business was informed in a timely manner, so the timeline excuse is another example of poor business savvy. read more

Narrative - Antiques Near Me - Oakland, California

WOW! Narrative has been a favorite antquie shop for years, but now it's even better with the much bigger showroom and expanded number of dealers. I would say it is contender for the top antquie / collectibles / art location in the Greater Bay Area read more

Friendly, helpful service from Evan. He even got one of the vendors on the premises that day to help me confirm composition of the item I was interested in. Wrapped the purchase well and brought it to the car. Great selection, especially of mid 20th century Scandinavian furniture and many genres of art and collectibles. New items appear daily. Wide range of pricing, generally with a lot of the more expensive furniture near the front and best values plus art towards the back. read more

Had a very bad, off-putting experience in Narrative today. I have visited Narrative a couple of times, made purchases, and referred others. Returning today to introduce my daughter and husband to the store, I was shocked when my daughter was asked to leave her purse at the front desk. It took us a minute to understand what was being asked, it was so shocking. When we did finally understand what was being asked, we protested and indicated that she was not giving up her purse. The store insisted that it was store policy to require this for all bags over a certain size (this was an average size purse--not a tote, backpack, or shopping bag). After making it clear that we were insulted by a policy that required leaving one's purse at the front desk, we left. It felt very unwelcoming. I do not intend to go back until this policy is changed, I would urge anyone asked to do this to refuse to do so, and encourage this establishment to change its policy. This is no way to treat customers and retailers should not be able to get away with such policies in our community. We cannot let it come to this. I understand that Oakland and many communities are experiencing a rise in retail theft and related issues. Together we must find ways to address this without making Oakland customers feel like criminals. Disappointed. Angela B. read more

Absolutely one of the mot beautiful and highly curated shops of its kind...I can't recommend a visit here highly enough! Something for everyone! read more

One of my favorite antique/vintage stores in the Bay. I especially love Narrative because they have some very high quality pieces that you wouldn't find at nearby traditional antique markets. They have a beautiful (and constantly rotating) selection of furniture, artwork, and various home decor/hosting items, as well as other unique pieces (vintage cameras, accent decor and more). It's hard to not walk away with everything you see, but I'm guaranteed to buy something every time I visit. It is a bit of a pricier store, but that's because many of these items are higher quality and well sought after. There is ample street parking in the area, and a few other shops (mostly chains) directly nearby. You're also close to Jack London square, so it's fun to make a day out of it when you're stopping by! read more

This store is amazing! My fav high-end vintage was Stuff in SF, the original store on Valencia St in SF that sadly closed. A friend told me about Narrative and although I'm in SF it's not that hard to get to this store, SF Ferry at Jack London is a block from Narrative, easy and a pleasant commute from SF. I think I might like this store as well as Stuff although Stuff was much more casual, funky, whereas Narrative is very slick, very hip in terms of presentation. But... an incredible array of art, collectables, furniture, a little bit of everything, and WONDERFUL things, things you just don't see everyday. I'll be a new customer for sure and it's worth the effort, although, really, the ferry ride over and back rather adds to the excursion. This store is wonderful! read more

Excellent selection, well curated, great location. Not overwhelmed with items, really nice pieces feel thoughtfully picked and displayed in a way that lets you visualize how it might be in your space. read more

Fun spot! It's a collective of really well curated furniture, decorative items and even vinyl records and art. We had a great time walking through and found most of the items reasonably priced. We'll stop in from time to time to see how much of the stuff turns over but this seems to be a great place to find unique gifts or cool accent items for hipsters who are taking their lives to the next level. :-) read more

For me a good place to walk around and admire, couldn't afford anything. It has a very mid century 70's vibe. In the back there's a 'studio art gallery ' nicely curated. It seems there are offices back there where they can work. There was some art I loved for $1k+, there is 1 employee in the front to assist read more

See all

My wife and I went into Narrative yesterday afternoon (September 14, 2019) to do some weekend antique shopping for our home. We enjoyed browsing the store's vintage art and furniture but as we went to purchase our finds (candle sticks, ceramic mugs and a pillow) my wife experienced racist prejudice from one of the store owners. The male store associate was friendly and when he began to ring us up, the female store owner (Caucasian) got visually and verbally upset that the cost on the pillow was as low as it was. The guy asked her if it was one of her items she was selling (because they curate things from many sellers), and she said that it was, in fact, hers. Next came mentioning to her associate, loudly, that she never ever meant to price it that low, standing around being upset that she couldn't change it and discussing it with her associate, making us feel very uncomfortable as if it were our fault. No small business service and kindness you'd expect to find. Instead she grumbled and passively protested that it was not priced correctly but fine that's ok and then jumped back into her office. The man continued to ring us up, package up our items and we had a nice chat with him and left. Not one word from the store owner. As we were just a couple steps out of the store, the female store owner came rushing out after us. She walked directly past me (I am Caucasian) and went up to my wife (who is African American) who was just a few steps in front of me and asked, "Did you happen to take my phone"? My wife, said "No" and showed her the phone she had, which was her own. Without any apology or anything, the woman then immediately followed up by saying "This is going to be the second phone of mine STOLEN out of the store" as if this would be the moment my wife admitted to something. When my wife offered help to find it (which she absolutely didn't need to do but she is a kind person), the shop owner was dismissive and rushed back into the store without a word. She took zero responsibility for HER mis-priced pillow and HER misplaced phone and instead threw her prejudice at my wife. She racially profiled my wife as a potential criminal. She never asked me about my phone, didn't even acknowledge me because she assumed she knew who it would be out of the two of us. She specifically targeted my wife point blank period. I am writing this as a concerned partner and to warn other shoppers that they should tred carefully here. To the shop owner, your microaggressions might have felt subtle enough to you but your passive racism spoke clear as day to both of us. I know that after reading this, you'll probably become dismissive and defensive claiming you were just trying to find your phone but do the work. Do the work to see exactly what you did by targeting my wife on the basis of her race and understand... your subtle, disguised racism is very visible. Acknowledge your mistakes. Check your prices so you don't make your customers feel bad for your mistakes. And get yourself some pockets for your cellphone since you can't seem to keep track of it. read more

Daaaaaaamn this is a cool little shop. They're located right next to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and right across from Cost Plus World Market and I'm only a little embarrassed to say that going to those big box stores is how I found this (actually not-so) little indie shop and artist's studio. The artist's studio is in back and you can walk through and look into the little offices and workspaces. The shop part is in the front and has a mixture of hip, and marked up antiques that are all statement pieces for your home. There's also a lot of new furniture, art, and goodies. I made a real score on this catch all wooden tray with a silver Ram's head on the end and the raddest marble soap dish with an Aardvark head carved into it. $35 for the catch all, and $25 for the marble soap dish. Not your basic of either of those things but I was surprised for their style and uniqueness that they were priced so reasonably, in my mind. read more

Awesome little store with a well curated collection and lot's of cool knick-knacks. Great selection of antique/vintage lamps and barware, reasonable prices. The art gallery in back is also worth checking out. read more

Love this place! It's such a cool store with the friendliest staff. Every first Saturday of the month they have an outdoor market. So cool! I went this past Saturday and it was just super hot that we had to go inside. Too bad they didn't put up a tarp or something to block out the Sun because we would have shopped outside for longer than we did. In any case, I would definitely go back sand totally recommend going. read more

My hometown is FULL of awesome vintage shops like this so I was really stoked to find this gem in the East Bay. The prices are super fair and the stock is always eclectic. I've walked away with a little something each time I stopped by. From a locally made thank you card to an antique cocktail shaker. Very well curated selection. Do yourself a favor a skip the price gouging of the Alameda Flea and check out Narrative. I love popping by here when I can and I hope that places like this continue to pop up around Oakland. read more

See all

Kilims, funky aluminum signs, deco and mid century pieces. The real find is the artist studios in back (studio 11).

We stumbled on Narrative accidentally when leaving Bed Bath and Beyond as we picked up some grilling things. We saw some cute things and decided to wander on in. I really love the set up and how you can tell each section is by a different seller. The woman working on Sunday 6/23 was so pleasant and I feel like a turd for not even asking her name. We spoke about music and she helped my boyfriend find even more records after he picked out a bunch. We really loved the art area in the back and I fell in love with the one artist work on the right hand side as soon as you walk in. I'm not really good at art things but it looked like water color to me and just the way the colors meshed together were amazing. It really made me happy looking at the paintings and I am going to be saving up some mula to be able to purchase one. There really is a lot you can find but make sure you come with time because this is definitely a spot where you can find some hidden treasures when you're searching. read more

A gem of a store. Wonderfully curated. Prices seem very fair. Neat collection of vintage abstract expressionist art that seems to change a lot. Great destination in jack London area. Oh and I did I mention the great vintage kilim rugs? read more

Not only does this store have really nice stuff, the people who own and run it are great. I had a minor issue with a piece I bought after I brought it home. I emailed the owner and he personally drove out to my house within a day to look at it and fix it on the spot. Who does that these days? These guys do. read more

Seriously cool stuff if you love vintage. Oakland was totally missing a shop like this. I found an awesome towel ring with a lion head on it and reasonably priced. Highly recommend if you like vintage decor. read more

Great vintage shop with fun eclectic selection of interesting well priced items. Some mid century furniture and artful decorative items. We found the perfect item for our home. read more