Mom and Pop antique stores are some of the places we liked to hunt for undiscovered bargains or unusual items. Unfortunately, like other small businesses, they are rapidly closing their doors.
Over the past five years it seems the antique market has slowed down significantly. There seems to be several causes: ease & low overhead of selling on eBay or other Internet sites, families retaining heirlooms (thanks to shows like Antiques Roadshow) resulting in lack of quality store inventories, and a general disinterest by most younger consumers.
Two area stores have/will be closing by the end of this month. Will E Makit, a well-established business on Rte. 9 in Gibson City, will close at the end of this month. Not only did they sell/consign antiques, they offered china repair, doll repair, and custom lamp shade services. The owner is retiring. Ruby's Glass in downtown Paxton has sold their building and is concentrating on internet sales. Although we felt their inventory was quite over-priced for the area, they had one of the largest antique/collectible glass selections in East Central Illinois.
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1 comment:
We are seeing the same trend in the UK with many of the smaller antique shops
disappearing all the time, many of the dealers who used to regularly buy and
sell antiques no longer do so.
Luckily we can have lots of restorers and the one I use
China Repairs and Restorations tells
me trade has been as busy as ever in his field, so I guess there's still hope for improvement
down the line?
I've been told the antiques trade goes in cycles and we are on the low point at
the moment so lets hope it picks up before we loose too many more of these
valuable little shops and services.
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