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One big reason for our trip to Montreal last week was my desire to cover Rue Amherst, the city’s amazing stretch of 20th century vintage shops (read mid-century modern). Toronto has Queen Street East for MCM, Montreal has Rue Amherst. The shopping starts north of Rue de Maisonneuve Est and runs for three blocks up the hill toward Sherbrooke Street. Although we embarked on this stroll at noon on Saturday, a few shops like Antiquités Seconde Chance (No. 1691) and Le 1863 (No. 1863) were closed.

We almost missed Montreal Moderne, too, but owner Martin Lafrance arrived just as we were taking off. Lafrance’s shop might be called “house of teak” his inventory skews so firmly in that direction. But if the colour of wood tended to blend together, some pieces stood out. The biggest wall unit I’ve ever seen took up one whole side of the store and in the window, above, was a breathtaking, cantilevered Vladimir Kagan dining table in steel, glass and zebrawood. The definition of an investment piece, the table was tagged at $7,000 but the same piece is on 1stdibs.com right now for double the price. USD!

Over and over we heard from dealers about how Montreal prices are depressed. Cité Déco (No. 1761) had a superb lucite desk and chair set, above left, priced at $2,200, which is extremely fair for a set of this calibre and condition (Los Angeles, 1964). When I commented on the price owner André De Mondo shrugged his shoulders and said, “That’s Montreal.” De Mondo was asking just $225 for the sexy lucite chair with white leather seat, above right.

At Jack’s (No. 1860), the biggest dealer on the strip now that Philz has decamped to St-Laurent in Mile End, we saw another sweet lucite chair, below right, for $375. Jack’s is enormous and feels like a 1970s time warp with everything from Hot Lava pottery to phones and period TVs. Of course, there are teak and upholstered pieces, too (above and below), and lighting is clearly a specialty.

One of my biggest disappointments was the discovery that a camera malfunction left me with no images from Antiquités Curiosités (No. 1769) where shop assistant Pierre André Bruneau was fantastically helpful. When we arrived, the shop smelled of solvents and he was busy in the adjoining workshop staining a cabinet. When I mentioned to him that I would be blogging about the wonders of steel wool next week, he happily gave me some demonstrations and encouraged me to take before and after shots of the miraculous results. Alas, those pictures are lost along with images of some of the store’s better pieces like the modern, bent plywood chair with mauve upholstery from Expo ’67, in excellent condition for $750. We admired a stunning rosewood desk and cabinet set (sold) and a very good rosewood dining set with six chairs for $1,900; a nice pair of matched teak book shelves were $650 each.

Our penultimate stop was at the eye-popping Spoutnik (No. 2120, top pic) where effervescent owner Sylvie Rochon engaged with a constant stream of customers and admirers. It’s easy to see why the shop is popular; Rochon stocks quality pieces at good prices — the curved glass console in her window was a showstopper and only $300, the heavenly white flokati (approximately 8′ x 6′) was $350. The large-scale, bronze-coloured, mercury glass lamps, above left, were $200 each and a set of four Wegner-style folding chairs, above right, were $300 each; the gold, crushed-velvet coffee table, below (have you ever seen anything like it?!), was $225.

And finally, although it’s not decor, I recommend Zéphyr Lieu D’Art (No. 2112) where the mostly Quebecois art is of terrifically high-calibre as well as extremely colourful and in many cases, surprisingly affordable.

If you’re a mid-century modern junkie you can really score on Rue Amherst where you’ll probably save enough on furnishings to pay for your trip (provided you don’t have to ship the goods too far). HIGHLY recommended!