As a local and as someone who has been coming here since they were a kid, sweet Lorain is a city staple for vintage ANYTHING. The space is overflowing with clothing, home decor, jewelry, prints and records. You can find just about anything in here! The owner is always so kind and I respect his eye and passion for collecting vintage. That is someone who loves what they do! I did get stuck in the snow that last time I was here and not in their parking lot. The owner came out with a shovel and pushed my car out. This was the kindest thing someone has done for me in a while and I didn’t ask him to help. I hope I can take my children here one day !

Very rude staff. I was looking at the clothing, and a lady working there rudely asked me what I was doing. Did not ask if she could help or if there was something I was looking for. Just walked up to me like I wasn’t supposed to be there. They then turned around and told me to keep my mask on my face or the owner would get mad. Not because it’s a health hazard, but because he would get angry. I had a mask over my mouth and nose I did absolutely nothing to be treated this way. I will not be shopping here again.

Owner is seriously a condescending agro jerk. It's the forced masking thing. While he was clearly on a business call, he came all the way across the floor to talk down to me like I'm 5 years old - "You're nose is peaking out." His tone was disrespectful. I'm hard of hearing and didn't think I understood him right, so I said "excuse me?" He got more aggressive and condescending, "I'm the owner, I can do what I want." I took my mask off and said I'm leaving then. I had a few choice descriptive terms for him of body parts he resembled and left. Dude is seriously rude. I saw a bunch of other reports like this one after this happened. Its not about the mask, it's being talked to in such a rude manner. Never going back.

Okkkkk...so I'm from out of town and I love a good vintage shop. That being said...this place is nuts! When you first walk in you are hit in the face with tons of stuff! This is good and bad...the first main room literally has piles of stuff and it's hard to move...this part is also dirty and dusty. The second part is way more organized but it's packed!!!! Tons of collections if you like turtles or xmas stuff. Overall I would probably visit again when I had like hours to be there and could deal with the mess.

I’ve been a few times and I can say for sure the owner cares nothing for customer retention let alone making sales, as many reviews remark. First, right as you walk in you’re greeted with extensive collections of racist caricatures for sale, which needless to say isn’t a great start, quickly showing off the “curation” work put into Sweet Lorain. The entire place is formatted very cramped, seeming more like storage than a well cared for shop. Things are strewn everywhere, it’s hard to tell wether you are allowed to be in certain areas or not, and it’s near impossible to safely look closer at items because of how haphazardly everything is stored in sloppy piles. At my final visit, I was holding clothing to purchase and the owner approached me and asked to hold the clothes for me, warning me bluntly if I wanted to try them on I needed to “be careful since they won’t fit.” All of the clothes were labeled plus size, and I didn’t have any intention of trying them on there (since like the rest of the store, the dressing room is hard to find and not well put together), I was just going to purchase them. I found before leaving that instead of holding the clothing at the counter, the owner had hid all of the items back on the rack separated from each other- clearly trying to deter me from purchasing it whatsoever. It greatly upsets me to see I’m not the only person this has unfortunately happened to either from reading multiple other reviews where the hubris engulfed owner felt comfortable chasing off other customers with uncalled for comments on their bodies. I walked out buying nothing and I don’t plan on ever returning or encouraging anyone to visit. A better vintage thrift store is Flower Child in Lakewood, where I’ve had no such issues. TL;DR Sweet Lorain has an incredibly rude owner with a clear racism, fatphobia, and just general lack of any positive personality traits that ruins whatever value there might be in visiting there. This place is hard to navigate and if you have mobility aids, navigation through this building will not be possible.

It's super tight in there but lots to see. An excellent source of vintage clothing though I'd look closely at the size. Packed to the gills with interesting stuff, mostly organized, but I think some side aisles are impossibly skinny.

Left this antique store in tears. I was accused of trying to “pull one over” because I was inquiring about a coat with no price tag. Never been so confused in my life. Was scolded and belittled for no reason. Antiquing is my passion. This place was also kind of dirty and had mostly junk. If salt and pepper shakers, and being yelled at by strangers for no reason are your thing go there.

Way overpriced. Really cool stuff! But it’s not a fun place to shop because you have to work to peel apart overstuffed racks and left bummed by the tags. If they put more effort into curating it wouldn’t be so offensive.

it does have an amazing array of vintage magazines and glassware, however, the owner is rude. also, forced masking is a stupid rule in general, but especially in a large store that has max 5 people in at a time. i was 20 feet away from the owner and he yelled at me to cover my nose. nobody else was there except my husband. i didn’t even get a hello! he asked us about where we were from, my husband said he is from cleveland, but the owner wasn’t paying attention. he proceeded to (unsolicitedly) give us a list of places to visit. weird. some things are priced well while others not so much. the jewellery collection is bad. the vintage clothing is amazing but very overpriced. i really love most of what this store has to offer but i was kind of annoyed by the attitude of the staff. i’m not sure if i’ll be back.

A Gem of the city. You must absolutely go an check out Sweet Lorain if you are a lover of all things vintage.

How does one count the ways on how truly special a shop like Sweet Lorain is? I was first introduced to this unique and unrivaled shop by a dear friend and now make it my first stop every time I visit Cleveland. This place is a must for anyone looking for vintage or great MCM antiques. The owner and his staff are extremely knowledgeable on all things vintage, are helpful, friendly and will answer any questions. There are so many areas within the store from jewelry to bar wear, kitchen to Christmas decor, records to glassware, the list goes on! I mainly visit for the vintage clothing section which is a vintage lovers dream come true. I honestly cannot imagine a more perfect place to get lost in for hours that is filled with vintage clothing and accessories. The clothing area is separated by decade and then by day/evening wear for dresses, sweaters, tops, skirts, coats, etc. I appreciate that the store takes the time to label items that are of a size to fit a modern silhouette since vintage clothing does run small. This helps me when choosing pieces that will fit my more curvier frame. A tip for vintage buyers — know your measurements before visiting and take a tape measure with you! This will be helpful in finding your dream vintage piece. Items are priced well since a lot of these vintage garments are one-of-a-kind and range from 90-50 years old. They have lived a life before starting their next journey with you! I have found some truly amazing pieces at Sweet Lorain and cannot wait for my next visit!

Extremely overpriced… Absolutely packed vintage shop. Dust on all of the shelves probably because nothing moves because of the high prices. Asked for assistance with locked cabinets, staff, very unfriendly.

I absolutely love this store! Every time I go in here I want to buy everything haha I've bought alot of kool vintage things here and soe great wall art

Somewhere buried in this place is a much better, smaller, more-curated vintage shop. I get that the insane abundance of themed knickknacks is kind of the draw but then you get to digging and there’s not really gems buried anywhere because it’s all quite overpriced. I did buy one of my favorite pairs of shoes here a year ago, so there’s that. But I paid top eBay-level dollars for them so could have just bought them online without having to have my allergies freaked out by the dust. This last visit I found another pair of nice vintage men’s shoes but the condition was well below what the price suggested… they price everything like it’s a diamond in the rough. I think there’s probably more to be found on the women’s side (my wife has found some nice vintage hats here not terribly priced). So they can price things at whatever they want, it’s their shop. But what are you paying for? It’s THE shop for tacky Christmas stuff though. And porcelain turtles.

Definitely a cool collection... However most of the items are way too overpriced and that's most likely why they can't sell most of their inventory. If they would lower their prices so people could actually afford some of the things they list as valuable, it wouldn't look like you were walking into an episode of hoarders. (I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case.) Seriously, this place is a fire hazard waiting to happen. It's nearly suffocating trying to browse. And if you do happen to find something you like it's up charged through the wazoo. Try your luck at a goodwill you'll thank me later.

Sweet Lorain is my favorite vintage store in Cleveland. I've found so many amazing items here. Things like furniture, jewelry, housewares, and sewing supplies. Plus the absolute best selection of clothing I've ever come across. This store has a bit of everything, and be ready to dig!!

Not for the faint of heart, but we found many excellent deals! We were initially greeted by a very friendly employee. When the owner later arrived, we found him to be knowledgeable and charming. It's a Sweet little shop and we won't miss when we're back in town.

Huge antique shop! Great for vases, magazines, antique clothing, kitchen items and more. A bit disorganized and cramped but it adds to the charm. I don’t often purchase from here bc a lot of the items aren’t relevant to me but it’s a great place to find novel stuff and explore!!

This store needs a coffee counter so you can take a break while exploring all the wonderful things they have packed into this large store. Just joking. Wow, so many wonderful things.

I should have listened to the reviews about the customer service! The items are really cool but it is hard to shop because it’s so packed. Some of the clothes have plus size tags but some that are, do not. When I went to try things on, the other works were nice but one yelled at me to not drag or fold anything while holding it. He also took 3 of my items because “they won’t fit you”.

Was told about store by a friend and wanted to check it out. First off the store was too packed, I felt uncomfortable like I was going to break something just walking around. Most of the clothing which I came for went for eBay prices or higher and when I asked for help from an employee who has previously asked me if I need help. I was rudely pulled away and given an attitude. I really was looking to splurge and buy myself something nice for the holidays but quickly put everything back and just left. Bad first experience