Bella Mijno Vintage

Agree with other reviewers and the consensus that this small store is stuffed to the gills, well organized, and higher quality than most thrift stores. I went in looking specifically for men’s long-​sleeved shirts, and found one that fit the bill. The men’s selection was not very large, and there seemed to be far more women’s clothes, so I’ll have to bring my wife back. Lots of items other than clothes: jewelry, kitchen plates, purses, books. The woman working today was busy with a customer when I was ready to check out, but she politely detached long enough to quickly take my money.
Very convenient downtown location, about a block away from the new Theatres/​Starbucks.
All in all, a pleasant shopping experience, and I’ll be back, with my wife.

I frequent the store often, as they have new items almost weekly. It’s one of those places that if you snooze, you lose. I had seen a red plaid round vintage hat/​wig carrier in the window. I waited a few weeks to buy it since I was usually heading somewhere else downtown in a hurry. When I finally had the chance to stop in and buy it… it was gone :(Anyways, real cute place!

I stumbled upon this place while walking on Main Street trying to figure out if there were any clothing stores worth walking in to since there barely are any of reasonable price. Found this store right next to a cigar shop had me a little worried for the clothes the owner leaves on the street smelling like smoke. Once you go inside though, it was nothing as expected with items just about everywhere in the store.
There’s not really a vintage selection of clothing and as cheap as I wanted it to be, but being as cramped as the store is, everything is neatly organized.
For being so cramped and having her young son play around the store is a little offsetting though.

I stopped here while killing time in the «Downtown» Merced area, looking to score some art or furntiure for my apartment with vintage fabulosity appeal.
The store is crammed floor to ceiling with stuff — clothing, frames, lamps, chests, shoes and various other nick-​nack-​paddy-​wacks. It’s relatively well organized by color and size (on the clothing racks), but it is sooo crammed with items it is very difficult to shop.
The store reeks of «oldness» — that gramma smell of old clothes, old shoes and old papers — you’ll want to bring tissues for your nose and wipes for your hands when it’s all said and done!
Most of the clothing is slightly out-​of-​date modern wear — rather than actual vintage — Mossimo and Contemp tags everywhere! There were, however, many furnishings of a «vintage» or antique nature thoroughout — many, many cool lamps!
I purchased an awesome vintage lamp for $ 30 (sans the attrocious lampshade). The proprietress disappeared into the back with the lamp to (I thought) remove the shade. Instead, she engaged in trying to «re-​wire» the lamp for me. She insisted it would only take a few moments — so I killed about an hour, browsing her shop and the other antique shops on the block — when I returned, she was still working on the lamp, only now it was in even more pieces.
I repeatedly told the proprietress that I needed to leave (5:30 pm) to head back to Orange County but that I return Wednesday-​Thursday of each week for work — and that I could pick up the lamp then. She was agreable, I paid, and she even wrote on the receipt that I would be there to pick up the lamp on the 5^th of January.
When I showed up on the 5^th — the lamp was even further disassembled and the proprietress was like «um…can I help you?» when I approached her about the lamp. She thought about it, then said «I haven’t finished the lamp yet — I thought you said you were coming by on Saturday.»
Nope, today, like it says on the receipt! I had to push (gently) for her to simply give me the lamp in all of its various pieces-​n-​parts so I could get out of there.
The major hold-​up? Apparently the proprietress was re-​arranging the shop to accomodate more goods and a new color scheme near the door and in the display windows… hmmm…seems to me that you would want to service your customers better in order to keep having windows to arrange displays for.
I won’t say that I won’t ever go here again, but not in the forseeable future.
Oh, and now I have a cool lamp in many pieces to re-​wire…

Bella Mijno (what the hell is Mijno? The last name of the owner? Low-​backlash planetary gearheads?) is a little shop tucked between a cigar store and a nail polish-​applying salon. Thus, it smells like something unmentionable on Unilocal.
That being said, here are some reasons to walk inside anyway:
01 you want to try and get them to sell your furniture for you (they sell some consignment pieces)
02 you want to look through used, sometimes vintage, clothes
03 you’re wandering through downtown Merced and want to see the latest store to open
04 you’re in the market for silver platters, milk glass vases or chandeliers
05 you want to get high off of the fumes of illegal nail polish remover being used next door without being caught