Salvaged by Sonya to leave downtown Rockford after 14 years, transition to warehouse-based estate sales

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Salvaged by Sonya is leaving its home in downtown after 14 years as a destination for vintage, antique and retro goods.

The home and garden shop, which also offers estate sale services, will close its storefront at 510 E. State St. on Feb. 28. The business is transitioning to operate from its warehouse at 225 S. Sixth St. and turn its focus more squarely on estate sales.

“Estate sales has been our main business and I really want to focus on that and give it 100%,” owner Sonya Dowdakin told the Rock River Current. “There’s so many people in our community that need our help, and so that’s where I need to focus.”

Salvaged by Sonya began as a passion project for Dowdakin in 2011 and grew into a full-service storefront with rare jewelry, art, furniture, and other home and garden items.

“With much thought and consideration of the future of Salvaged by Sonya, we are streamlining to better serve our community,” Dowdakin said in a post on Facebook. “Our focus will be mainly on estate sales, estate clearouts and downsizing sales.”

It has operated from three different downtown storefronts, each larger than the last, as it grew over the years.

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The first 400-square-foot storefront was at 110 N. First St., across from Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary.

It moved to 330 E. State St. after outgrowing the space. It left that space, which is now home to SRM Prints, in 2023 after seven years and moved into a larger storefront previously home to 510 Threads site.

“I’m proud to say that we’ve grown to be Rockford’s largest estate sale company and look forward to continuing providing reliable and thoughtful services without our brick-and-mortar storefront you’ve been accustomed to over the years,” Dowdakin said.

She said it was a difficult decision to leave downtown.

“It’s really hard for me because I’ve invested a lot into my business downtown and I feel like I was a staple in downtown,” Dowdakin said. “I was so proud of it and how it had grown. … It took a long time to make this decision to do this.”

She said customers can continue to watch on Facebook and connect through the company’s website (salvagedbysonya.com), EstateSales.net or its newsletter to stay on top of warehouse sales throughout the year.

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“We do estate sales every week,” she said. “We’re excited to grow with the estate sale business and we invite everyone to keep coming. It’s a great way to help your community by being responsible buyers, repurposing and helping your neighbor move forward.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas