Where to find tiki bar decor?

I'll be in the Pittsburgh area (by way of Erie PA and Buffalo NY) for a couple of days next month and I'm hoping to find some tiki decor (not much of it to be found here in the Great White North). Can anyone recommend local stores, or national retailers that might fit the bill? Previous posts have mentioned finding tiki-related stuff at places like Big Lots, Lowe's, etc.

What are you looking for? If you want some original pieces from the Kon Tiki, I can help you on that. But they are 11 feet tall...

On 2007-06-06 06:54, Swanky wrote:
What are you looking for?

I guess what I'm looking for is decor for a home tiki bar. Elsewhere in the forums, people talk about building their home bars and how they found all kinds of amazing stuff... shells, bamboo rolls, string lights, etc.

I'm not looking for mail order sites at this point: I was hoping to visit stores that carry tiki-related stuff.

what part of the contry are you in? i also have alot of stuff from KON TIKI cleveland . but it too is large. like a 12 ft outrigger canoe,and lots of carved panels

On 2007-06-06 18:30, TIKI DAVID wrote:
what part of the contry are you in?

I'm in Canada -- but I'll be in the Pittsburgh area (by way of Erie PA and Buffalo NY) next month.

Flea markets are the best. Antique shows, Garage sales suck now a days but you never know. Estate sales. It's harder now with ebay.
The guys who sell antiques just look it up on ebay and wham!
That $4.00 ashtray is now hoffman pottery and worth $50.00 bucks.
We still find $100.00 nautical lamps for $20.00.
Sometimes we will see an el crapo lookin sale and I don't want to go in
thats where you find it.
Good Luck!

Also a lot of people come to our home and get wowed by all the stuff.
Some seem to want it all right now. The way we got all this stuff is over a long time.
It was fun hunting for it. If you take your time and just enjoy the hunt that is
best.
Most of our stuff comes with a great story. Like all of the crazyness that went on
at the Kahiki sale. Wow! that woman was nuts.
But if you get it from ebay (I have stuff from ebay) you just get to say I got it
on ebay.
Oh, and start making your own. it's not that hard.
Look for parts at the thrift store. Baskets, hats ECT.
Have fun! And good luck!

Tikiskip has good advice there...heed those words. But alas, you haven't told us what part of Canada in which you reside. If you're in Alberta, I may be able to help you locate some stuff.

Hey Demerara, I second the 'where in Canada?' question.
I've had some great luck in Ontario and can give you a few suggestions.

I find most of my items at thrift stores, garage sales & flea markets.

I concur. Luckily it is still the case that, even after years of attempts of mainstreaming Tiki, that if you are truly committed to Tiki, it is serious urban archeological work to assemble the appropriate decor (...or you take a trip to Whittier, CA, and visit Oceanic Arts :) ). The scarcity of authentic mid-century Tiki objects is mirrored by the scarcity of authentic Tiki bars (especially if they keep on closing them :( ), and the occasional acceptable exceptions in the Target/Lowe's type offerings just prove that it's not an easy hop-into-the-car-to-the-neighbourhood-shopping-mall kind of deal. The secret still protects itself.