Geaugas Antique Mistique Draws Thousands of Collectors

July 18, 2013

By Ann Wishart
Tourists and local antique collectors alike have copious opportunities to find bits and pieces of the history of not only Geauga County, but much of the Western Reserve.
Behind the doors and win-dows of nearly 40 stores and malls from Chester to Parkman townships reside thousands of antiques and collectibles dating from the early 1800s forward.
The antique industry is alive and well and living in Geauga County.
Besides antique shops, peri-odic auctions and estate sales often yield aged but well-loved furnishings and several shops specialize in refinishing and repairing valued pieces.
Geauga County is Antique Central
Antiques lend their atmo-sphere to many places of business.
Area restaurants, in particular, are decorated with elegant furniture from the early settlers, paintings and photos of bucolic landscapes and someone’s ancestors.
The dcor, reminiscent of New England villages and town squares, lends an air of permanence to an otherwise shifting world.
Burton Village, well known for its historic town square and architecture, claims more than half a dozen antique sellers, making it a haven for collectors and admirers as well as the perfect location for the monthly “Saturdays in the Country”?on Burton Square.
The aura of small-town New Hampshire is nowhere stronger in Burton Village than at Coffee Corners Antiques and Coffee House, just north of the square on North Cheshire Street.
Sue and Jerry Wayman originally rented the north part of the old building about 16 years ago, she said.
They had been living in Mesopotamia in a house on Kinsman Road near an intersection always known as Coffee Corner, Sue said.
Waymans, befriended by antique experts Carol and Bob McDivitt, decided to open a primitive antique shop in their back yard.
“They’re the ones who got us into antiques,” she said. “When we didn’t have a lot to put in the shop in Mespo, they loaded us up.”
When the Waymans moved to Burton, they sold out of their home for a while, then rented the narrow, deep shop on North Cheshire to sell the early-1800s primitive pieces they had collected here and there.
Eventually, they spread out to the south part of the building, setting up a coffee bar and wedding the two operations in a fragrant, comfortable union.
A room with comfortable couches and chairs leads to the left to the counter displaying cookies, cakes, scones and muffins and a full menu of delicious coffee.
Jerry likes to bake and the goodies are hot from the oven at 7 a.m. every day, Sue said.
Visitors going straight past the sitting area find several cozy rooms populated by just enough antiques without being crowded. A couple of harvest tables invite coffee drinkers to sit and visit.
“We like to keep it homey. I don’t like clutter,” Sue said. “The biggest thing is that the antiques give a backdrop to the coffee shop.”
The various pieces are top quality, but don’t look for anything vaguely Victorian at Coffee Corners. Stoneware and crocks are grouped in the corners or on shelves.
“I love early primitive country antiques,” Sue said. “The more beat up, the better.”
Coffee Corner antiques are high-end, she said, crediting her husband for his buying acumen.
They will travel out of state, as much to enjoy other people’s antiques as to purchase more for the store.
“We buy, we sell, we go to auctions,” Sue said, but not everything they bring back will turn up at Coffee Corners.
“If we like something, it goes to the house,” she said.
Antique Malls Galore!
More diverse and endlessly enter-taining for the casual as well as the serious collector, are several antique malls where vendors rent spaces to display and sell their wares.
Antiques on the Square in Chardon, Country Collections Antique Mall in Middlefield and Auntie’s Antique Mall in Parkman?Township have all stood the test of time, drawing tons of tourists to the area and satisfying local antiquers as well.
One of the largest malls in Northeast Ohio, Auntie’s has more than 60 vendors occupying between 120 and 130 booths, said store manager Dominique Reinhard.
Recently Auntie’s, already covering 14,000 square feet, added 5,000 square feet of new space by building onto the original airplane hangar structure, she said.
Reinhard and her partner, Nick Christlieb, have been happy to welcome new vendors to the space that includes a courtyard, yet to be landscaped, and an area where Christlieb wants to display vintage vehicles.
“We acquired several new dealers in the process. They seem to be doing very well here,” she said.
The variety of antiques and collect-ibles available is almost incompre-hensible and Reinhard, who started managing Auntie’s in the last few years, has been doing her best to learn about the world in which she now works.
An Ongoing Education
“Obviously, we didn’t know a thing about antiques,” Reinhard said with a laugh.
Christlieb co-owns the mall with his aunt, who bought the business in 2009, and he covers the floor on the weekends while Reinhard oversees the operation during the week.
Her lack of background is slowly being overcome with study and mentoring from vendors and customers.
“All the dealers have been very helpful in educating Nick and me,” she said. “Most of the customers are here to enjoy themselves, so they’re not rushed. They are understanding if you don’t know something.”
Reinhard uses the reference library at Auntie’s, sometimes taking material home with her for uninterrupted reading.
“There is not one day I don’t learn something new,” she said, adding she has learned to love antiques.
“It’s a little piece of the past you can hold on to,” Reinhard said.
Summertime is busiest with loads of tourists finding their way to 15567 Main Market Road.
Winter months bring in more of her local regulars, Reinhard said.
“Route 422 is one of the best traveled roads in Ohio,” she said, adding the store, down a hill off the four-lane section of 422 west of Parkman center, is very visible for folks headed east.
The wide selection of vintage items gives Reinhard a great opportunity for learning but, more important, it is a rare customer who doesn’t find something he or she has to take home.
“There is literally something for everyone — any age group or type of collector,” she said.
Historic Setting on Chardon Square
On a smaller scale, but with an ideal location, Antiques on the Square offers three floors containing 20 booths chock full of varied and appealing antiques in a historic setting.
Besides the age of the former Zamer’s Music School, the building has seen many changes at the hands of owner Pat Martin and her late husband, Greg.
The stamped metal wall leading upstairs came from a church that used to stand on the square, she said.
The grand staircase itself came from the Elks Lodge in Ashtabula, something Martins bought when the building was torn down.
They gutted the upstairs and found the original iron support columns, which are still exposed, and took off 12 layers of flooring.
More recently, she had new windows installed and the stucco repaired and painted to give Antiques on the Square an updated curb appeal.
Martin has staying power and, after 27 years, the idea of relocating has never found a toehold.
“I am committed to staying on the square until I can no longer push another piece of furniture,” she said.
Martin’s vendors also serve as sales people. Some have been with her for years.
“We’ve truly become a close-knit family. One couple is in their 80s. Longevity is part of our success,” she said.
Business Plan Success
The Martins started their business at a time when antiques were becoming very popular, but they have weathered the rougher times because they planned well, she said
“We had our business plan and we stuck to it,” Martin said.
With a degree in textiles and business, she had a good idea of what constitutes a healthy business and she didn’t lose sight of her goals.
Antique shows were very popular when Martins’ concept was forming in the ’80s, she said.
They visited many shows, taking names and explaining their plan.
“We handpicked a lot of people. Before we even signed a lease, we were 75 percent committed,” Martin said.
Greg, who had also majored in business, continued as a silent partner once the shop at 101 Main Street was up and running, Martin said.
It has become a destination location for folks from all over the country and has seen customers from as far away as Japan come through the door, she said.
Her advertising campaign, which is aimed at collectors from east of the Mississippi River, brings folks from many states and Martin said she anticipates an increase as Chardon Square continues to provide popular activities such as flea markets, concerts and farmer’s markets through the summer.
Foot traffic during warm summer evenings, when Martin’s mall stays open until 8 p.m., increases, especially when there is a concert on the square. Folks stop in to look and they stay.
“There’s so many things in here. You can truly spend hours in here,” Martin said.
Grain Cradles as Art
Even after 18 years in the antique business, Kathy Lewis, retired manager of Country Collections Antique Mall in Middlefield, is often amazed at the items customers choose to decorate their homes.
Her specialty is primitive farm equipment and there is periodic demand for it.
“I can’t tell you how many grain cradles we’ve sold over the years,” she said.
Once she sold the undercarriage of a buggy to someone who planned to hang it from a cathedral ceiling.
“Large homes with high ceilings want big stuff,” she said, adding often that translates to primitive farm equipment.
Then there was a guy who was opening a restaurant in Chagrin Falls.
“They wanted something really funky. A lot of big farm stuff goes to restaurants,” Lewis said.
Fortunately, finding almost anything with some age to it is not impossible with 50 vendors and 4,500 square feet of space at the mall at 15848 Nauvoo Road.
Everybody has a specialty, Lewis said, from costume jewelry to magazines to trains.
Post Cards From the Past
Even post cards that go back 30 years and more are popular.
“We have two guys who specialize in post cards and early license plates. Some of our repeat customers come in to buy a couple of hundreds of dollars worth of post cards,” Lewis said. “People can spend two hours in the shop if they are avid collectors.”
She said she was between jobs some years ago when owner David Reynolds needed a manager.
When she saw his advertisement, she took her love of antiques to the mall and ran the operation until she retired two years ago. She credits the longevity of the mall to the great dealers who keep a reliable supply of merchandise for the customers.
But Lewis has no misconceptions about the antique market today.
“It’s just a fun thing. In our area, you’re not going to get rich on antiques,” she said.
Liquidator’s Niche
Estate liquidation takes muscle, a serious work ethic and sometimes a strong stomach, but the antiques, collectibles and other useful items that it yields make it a promising niche for Heidi and Brian Johnson.
Their business, White Barn Estate Liquidations and Buyouts, is based at 105 Water Street on Chardon Square, where they have a showroom for some of the items that have come out of the estates they have liquidated.
Heidi, a former co-owner of an antique shop in Geauga County, said her love of antiques and her partnership hit a wall with the start of the recession in 2008.
“The face of antiques was changing quite a bit,” she said.
She was already buying estates and taking items to auction, but the economic downturn made her re-evaluate.
“It really is a gamble, what you’re going to get for it at auction,” she said, adding resale seemed like the way to go, but location is always the thing.
“I always wanted to get back to Chardon Square. We needed the right venue. That was a challenge,” she said.
Finally, they were able to get into the building on Water Street around Christmas, but it needed a lot of major renovation, which they undertook.
With the retail space and some storage, they can rotate the items they retrieve from their estate liquidations and bulk buyouts as items sell, keeping their inventory fresh.
While the Johnsons are busy appraising, buying and cleaning out estates, Heidi’s daughter, Beth Henderson, manages the store.
When he isn’t hauling items to storage, Brian reconditions the wood furniture that comes in to make it more salable.
“We have a really high turn-over here,” Heidi said. “And our resale is not just antiques or vintage. “
Anything in the house they think would sell goes to the White Barn. If folks come in with items, they will either buy them outright or suggest the person who brings it in use an alternative market, she said.
“We always try to make good referrals. We have more than enough stuff,” Heidi said.
In the estate buyout part of the business, the Johnsons specialize in buying out hoarder homes.
Brian’s background as a social worker helps the couple deal with some of the issues people have with selling family mementos.
“Parting with your things is difficult for most people. Family objects hold a lot of sentimental value,” he said.
Brian urges them to choose a few items they are especially fond of and let the rest go. Most don’t want mom’s dishes or dad’s lawnmower, so the couple cleans the items up and sells them for a reasonable price.
“Why buy things at full price when you can get beautiful quality things for a fraction of retail?” Heidi asked.
Scattering of Everything
Shoppers can fill a mixed bag at Refound Treasures, as well, where owner Maureen Foldesi carries “a scattering of everything.”
A few antiques have floor space in her store at 11777 Mayfield Road in Munson.
A long, once-yellow bench backs up against one of many sofas.
A tiki bar with matching stools catches the eye as one walks into the store and the variety includes lamps, wind chimes, kitchenware, purses and some rustic items.
“Furniture’s really our best-selling thing,” Foldesi said, adding she won’t put out anything with particleboard showing.
“We don’t take junk — just quality items and good used furniture,” she said. “And we work with people. That’s why we’ve been so successful.”
Refound Treasures will take up to 15 consignment items at a time priced by the owner, which adds to the variety, she said.
“We try to have something for everyone — new, used and antiques,” Foldesi said.