Best Salvage Yard

The last time somebody told us to "Bring gloves and a good attitude, be sweet and we'll help you," we were trying out a trendy sex therapist near Parkland hospital. When Orr-Reed CEO John Hargrove says it, he means something completely different. Since 1946, Orr-Reed has been in the demolition business, tearing away cabinets, moldings, mantel pieces and cornices from some of the formerly finest old homes in North Texas. They schlep it all back and stack it up and sell it from their 5-acre site near downtown. Hargrove says they have everything, and they don't charge antique-store prices, because they don't really spend a lot of time cleaning up the stuff or sorting it. Hence, the gloves and the good-hunting attitude; and, hence, the bargains. Orr-Reed reclaims old heart pine and other hardwood lumbers some customers use to build furniture or create hardwood floors. Hargrove says they do custom-fabrication work, too; but we just like the architectural junk and the thrill of the hunt.