The 6040’s: Curating a midcentury style in Fort Wayne

Nestled behind Rise Skateshop on Spy Run Avenue sits a compact but expertly packed shop. 

End tables are stacked atop a chest of drawers, and chairs perch on table tops. Artwork covers the walls, and almost every flat space is occupied by something – a clock, a magazine, a set of mugs. From floor to ceiling, The 6040’s is packed with midcentury furniture and furnishings.

“My store is really small, but it’s worked out so far. I’ve had no hang-ups with it,” says Owner Lee Bender. It’s one of two spaces where he sells goods. The second is a booth at Vintage Treasures on Coliseum, an even smaller space, but one that’s also jam-packed.

The name – The 6040’s – refers to the decades, a nod to the midcentury style Bender loves and features in his store. It also pays homage to an old skateboard company that was owned by one of his favorite skaters, Mark Gonzalez.

For Bender, who describes himself as an “aging, punk-rock skateboarder with tattoos,” becoming a business owner was not a long-time dream or plan.

“When we bought our home, being the snob that I am, I wanted the house to look like the era it was built in – 1961,” Bender explains. “So I bought some stuff. I bought some more stuff. I bought a third bedroom set. It went from the primary room to the guest room to the garage.”

With too much furniture for his home, Bender asked his friend, Nick Weaver, who owned Rise Skateshop at the time, to rent the back to sell his excess furniture. Then, to fill that space, Bender sold a skateboard collection and bought even more midcentury furniture. 

“I sold a skateboard collection I had, so I started with four grand from the boards, and it’s just worked its way up,” he says. 

Despite no formal background in business, The 6040’s seems to be a fitting venture for Bender. 

“I have zero background in business, but what I do have is: I ran skateboard shops. I ran retail stores, and I worked for Vans shoes and apparel for almost 10 years. I ran the marketing program for Northern California,” he says. “So with all this experience, it’s as simple as buying something, cleaning it up, reselling it, and voila, you have a business.”

He describes The 6040’s as a recreation of stores he’s seen in the various places he’s lived. 

“In San Francisco, there’s probably 10, if not more of those stores. LA, there’s 50 of them. Phoenix, there’s a bunch. Portland, there’s a bunch,” Bender explains. “I moved home…and I opted to start the store that I saw over the last 20 years.”

Admittedly, Bender says he’s much more into midcentury architecture than furnishings and furniture, “but buying and selling furniture is much easier than selling real estate in that genre because there’s only a handful of midcentury homes here in the area.”

Still, Bender has a deep appreciation for the items he sells.

“Everything in my store is 50, 60, 70 years old, so it’s already got a lot of life in it, and surely kids have jumped up and down on it, or you know a dog has ended up on top of it or this or that,” he says. “And so the quality is there because of the way furniture was made.”

As a business owner, he spends a lot of time sourcing items from online sales and auctions. In the past, he’s driven up to two hours one way to pick up a piece. When he does have to make a trek for a piece, he says he makes the most of it, stopping along the way and only returning home once his van is full.

In addition to casual shoppers, Bender has built a name for himself, meaning he has clients who rely on his expertise and skills to find furniture and furnishings that match their space, beyond the midcentury theme. 

“If they come into my store, I always say, ‘Where are you from? How do you hear of the store? What are you looking for?’ If they’re like, ‘Oh, we’re looking for Chesterfield sofas.’ That’s not my repertoire, but I will look for them for that sofa, that chair, or that grandfather clock,” Bender explains. “And it seems to work out where I take their name and number, and I write ‘Chesterfield’ into the contact, so then when I find it, I could send them a photo of it.”

In addition to the typical benefits that come with being your own boss, Bender says buying and selling furniture in a style he loves has allowed him to furnish his house with amazing pieces. 

“My wife and I are just kind of like, this is kind of insane,” he says. “This is a silly way to put it, never thinking that I would have a designer home. And it’s just a ranch from the outside, so it looks very unsuspecting, but then when you go in there, if you’re in mid-century furniture, it’s like…f*ck.” 

As he finds pieces he likes, he says he will swap them out for other pieces already inside his home. Because his personal decor style matches what he sells, the items fit right in. 

“This is a very boastful thing to say, but because I have the store, if I find something I like better than what’s already in my house, I search around, sell the thing that’s in the house, bring that piece in, and easy.”

The 6040’s is constantly updating its storefront and booth with new items. The 6040’s is open from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays at 1507 Spy Run Ave., #102, Fort Wayne, IN, 46805. You can also visit The 6040’s booth at Vintage Treasures at 625 W Coliseum Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN 46808, seven days a week.  

Follow @the6040s on Instagram for updates, sales, and more.