Recently I mentioned that I am always on the lookout for prime locations for new shop space. Today I want to discuss what to look for when you, as an aspiring Antique Vendor, are scoping out space in an Antique Mall.

Of all the business models I’ve experimented with, I tend to like the Antique Mall (sometimes called a Group Shop) best. But how does one choose? Here’s what I look for when searching for a new home for my Vendor space.

Antique Shop Owner

I look for a like-minded person who conveys an aura of hospitality. After all, this isn’t just junk. I offer unique artifacts used to create a warm and inviting atmosphere in someone’s home. I look for friendliness, creativity, and enthusiasm. Does the shopkeeper love what she does? Does she appreciate and see the charm of these rusty items, or does she just see a pile of junk for sale? Is the owner hard working?

The owner should be the face of the business, not an absentee landlord. Is she dependable, is she open when she says she’s going to be open? Are the shop hours sufficient to capture impulse shoppers and regulars alike? Is she savvy, fair and trustworthy in business dealings with vendors and customers?

Antique Mall Location

If an antique shop is a destination unto itself, it can reside in the woods, far up a back road. But most shops benefit from high visibility to get their customer traffic. Does the shop you occupy have high visibility and a pleasant outside aesthetic? Does the building have curb appeal? How about adequate parking for vendors to load and unload product, and plenty of space for customers, so they aren’t intimidated by the lack of parking spaces, and keep on driving to another shop a few miles up the road.

Proximity to Home

Ideally your shop space is close enough to home that you can service your space one or two times a week. By that I mean, replenish stock that has left a gaping hole in your displays, or remove an item that has simply taken up space for the past month, with little or no interest from buyers. Sometime it may be to simply “Fluff it up”, because you were driving by.

You may choose to have more than one antique shop. Presently I have one space 20 minutes from home, and I have another one a half-hour in the opposite direction. This is very manageable, though it would be ideal if they were in the same direction, because I could hit them both in the same day.

There have been times when the ideal store for me has been over an hour drive from home. When business is booming, this is OK, but if business is marginal, a two-hour round trip, gasoline, tolls and more can quickly make the situation intolerable.

Vendor Churn

Visit the shop several times. Observe how many empty spaces there are. How many booths are offering steep discounts, or moving sales? If that number is high, that is not good. Is there a waiting list to get space? If so, that may be a good sign. It means people aren’t eager to leave. Are a disproportionate number of the booths occupied by the owner? If so, it might mean that they can’t satisfy enough vendors to keep them in the shop.

Customer Traffic

We already addressed automotive traffic in the previous section, but what about customer traffic? Is the parking lot always empty when you drive by? When you stop in the store to look around, are you the only customer in the store for 20-30 minutes? If so, beware. The more eyeballs that see your stuff, the better chance you have of selling. If no one’s there, no one’s buying. If you see customers, observe whether they buy, or simply kick the tires and walk out empty-handed.

Days and Hours Open for Business

How many days a week a this antique mall is open for business can vary. Is the shop open on weekends? What time does it open? If it only opens at noon, that might be problematic. Does the shopkeeper view this as a real business (moving inventory and profitability), or is it a hobby (labor of love and a social outlet). I would suggest you don’t want to bet your bottom line with a hobbyist.

In recent years I’ve observed some shop owners strive to create a sense of scarcity, being open only one weekend a month. Yes, two days only. These are marketed as “events”. Such a business model does tend to stimulate a great deal of traffic and shopping activity in a short period of time. However, if you wish to participate in such a venture, there is a great deal of work involved in getting all your product to the shop for two days, and then removing it all to bring back to your own storage for the next 28 days.

Web & Social Media Presence

The olden days of advertising in a monthly regional antique/collectible dealer newspaper are history. Yes, some still exist, but they are expensive, and they are seldom timely. Does your antique mall still send expensive post cards to your mailbox to stick on your fridge to remind you of the big event on Black Friday? Does your shop owner have an e-mail list? Even better – does the shop owner allow you to collect e-mail subscribers within your own booth?

Good shops have a professional Facebook page and manage it daily to keep readers interested in the new arrival of products, and to constantly remind shoppers that cool stuff is “hit or miss”, so you gotta keep on top of things for fear of missing out (FOMO). In addition to Facebook, better shops have their own website, and their own domain.  And the best shops use Facebook and their webpage in concert with professional e-mail reminders of special events and to create a tribe of savvy shoppers, who get the news first on new arrivals.

Price Points & Customer Demographics

Some markets cater to a higher-end clientele that have no issue with paying premium pricing. Other markets prefer moderate/fair pricing. Others, are just plain cheap, avoid these at all costs. If a shop is perceived as simply an indoor flea market or yard sale – run! These shoppers place no value on what you have, all they want to do is deal. I could include links to sites or Facebook pages that would illustrate each of these scenarios, but I don’t want the negativity.

Often times this is less a matter of geography and more of a mindset conveyed by the shopkeeper. Which leads to my next point.

Beware of the “Sale Mentality”

Some shop owners think having a “Sale” is the way to drive business. They are eager to promote “Sales” to get buyers into the door, to buy your stuff at a discount. But the shop owner is still getting full price on the rent from all the vendors. Some even expect vendors to be on site to help “man the store”. If you pay rent, then have to discount your products, bake cookies and work at the counter, then I have a cheaper business model for you. Put your stuff on the curb with a “Free Stuff” sign on it. It will be much less work, for the same profit.

Similar Design Aesthetics

If you step into a shop and the booths all look just a little too similar, odds are that the owner is occupying most of the space. If the booths vary in the types of collections and presentations, then this visual diversity suggests many creative vendors are present.

Either way, you want to be in a space with similar quality merchandise. You want variety, yet similar. You want to see merchandise that is clean, gently worn to show its age and character, yet serviceable or displayable.

Summary

There you have it. 10 tips about what I look for when I’m scouting out new antique shop space. These are not hard and fast rules, but they are guidelines that will give you a starting point when you begin exploring antique mall alternatives in your area.

If you have any additional ideas to share, please add them to the comments section below.

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I picked up this rusty old meat chopper for a few bucks. The blade has definitely seen better days, but then, I didn’t buy it for the kitchen.

I am fascinated with old industrial items. This ancient “labor saving device” is exciting to me. I love cranks, crankshafts, flywheels and gears.

Think about it, this is your great-grand-mother’s food processor.

I placed a faux plant and holiday lights in the bowl and placed it on a window sill. I love the morning silhouette of the hardware as the sunlight streams into the hallway. The softness of the greenery is a fun juxtaposition with the hardness of the metal and structural design of the gadget.

This is what repurposing is all about.

If you like this photo, feel free to Pin it on your Pinterest.

This year I have collected several fireplace mantels that required some elbow grease, sandpaper and paint. In fact out of six fireplaces in the house, only one is real.

This one I picked up at Et Cetera on West Main Street. I used a putty knife to remove all the ugly applique embellishments, sanded the old paint, painted and antiqued it. The stove is electric and it takes the chill off the room as I snuggle up to watch Christmas Specials on TV.

This past weekend I saw three chairs on the side of the road. One was severely damaged but two were in excellent condition. The sign said “Free”! Honestly, I see chairs by the side of the road all the time. The fact is oftentimes you can’t give the darn things away. Also most frequently the chairs I see are not a style I want in my home.

I have had dozens of ladder back chairs over the years. But these are so very different from all the others. These are taller and much more slender than any others I have seen. Though they are durable enough to seat a 200 pound man, they are sleek and delicate in appearance.

I have to go, Charles is about to serve me coffee and ricotta pie from Caffe Sicilia.

 

Charles chose the title of this blog post. He says it is from a Neil Young album. Whoop Dee Doo!

Charles likes Neil Young. I don’t. But I do like rust. In fact I love rust; not on our cars or tools, but on old stuff in my garden. The gears in this photo belong in my garden.

My hubby discovered this cast iron relic while walking in the woods in Groton. The big gear is about 16 inches in diameter. Charles figures the entire assembly weighs about 75 pounds. It would require a trek of over a mile to the nearest road. If he would take better care of himself he would be fit enough to get this for me.

I will stop making him desserts and by Labor Day my fit and trim man can bring this trophy home.

I asked Charles for a photo of the Cottage. We have so many pictures of the interior and the gardens, but I noticed we didn’t have many of the exterior, front of the house.

One of the reasons is because we are always working on projects in the driveway, so there is always a sawhorse or two, a wheelbarrow, a pile of mulch…, you get the idea. So it is never a great time to snap a photo unless you are adept at Photoshop to digitally remove the project clutter that obstructs a quality photo.

So Charles had a brainstorm (or so I thought), let’s do a pen and ink line drawing of the house. He said, “Let’s forget about the details and focus on the linear elements, just to capture its essence.” The idea sounded wonderful. But Honey, you failed in the execution of the plan. Perhaps you’ll get a new box of crayons for Father’s Day.

 

I can always count on Charles to capture our surroundings on film.

A few weeks ago we had a series of thunderstorms pass through. After the storms subsided we looked out the back window to see the air was filled with an eerie greenish hue. The lily pads seemed to glow. Charles was able to catch it on his iPhone before it passed.

The seasons and the weather are constantly changing on the pond. That is one of the reasons we love being here.

Take a look at this serene countryside. Does it look tranquil to you?

I loved it the moment I laid eyes on it last Saturday. I had been driving up and down back roads in Groton and Townsend, looking for treasures. It had been a good day already. The front seat on the passenger side was filled with crockery jugs and lamps and it wasn’t even 10:30 yet.

I pulled up to this house in Townsend where a yard sale was taking place, and at the end of the driveway was a small old dresser that someone had given a second lease on life by using it as a canvas for her folk art scene. It caught my eye when I walked into the yard, but I tend to look over everything before I commit to a single item.

I paid for a couple of smalls and was walking towards the car when I stopped to look more closely at the Folk Art dresser. It had a price on it that was reasonable, but more than I wanted to pay. I don’t mind haggling over prices, but I don’t like to insult sellers with a lowball. The price she had marked on the item was fair. The craftsmanship was certainly worth it, I just wasn’t up to paying that much for the piece because I didn’t think it left me with enough room to flip the item.

As I made my way to my car, the lady said, “If you’re really interested in the dresser, I’ll make you a deal. Twenty dollars and it’s yours.” I tried to keep a poker face, as I handed her $20. She even offered to put it in the car for me. As she lifted it, we heard rattling in the drawer. We opened it and there were a half-dozen old Drug Store bottles. The nice woman said, “I don’t want those, if you want them they’re yours.”

Saturday was certainly a nice day to travel the back roads of Townsend. The car was half-full when I got home. Now where can I put this stuff?