-by Anne Finlay-Stewart

David Salter tells me his  Antique Shoppe stands today where a large mercantile building in Owen Sound burned down in the 1920s. His store was spared last week in the arsonist's blaze that badly damaged neighbouring businesses and apartments. For that he is truly grateful.

We sat in the store still cordoned off with yellow tape and spoke over the hum of industrial fans.

David has owned The Antique Shoppe in the 1000 block of 2nd Avenue East for ten years, but he has been in and out of the business since was a teenager. While he was still a student at OSCVI, he worked in a local antique store and bought a few special pieces he still owns.
He loves the idea of the recycling and restoration aspect of the business – fixing something up and sending it out into the world again - "sort of the opposite of WalMart," he jokes.

People make assumptions that "antique" stores are going to be expensive, and the merchandise at a "charity shop" will be a bargain, but neither of these is necessarily the case.
The antique business has changed a lot in the last few decades, with changing tastes, demographics and a strong and steady supply of inventory. When the parent and grandparent generations downsize, the first things to go are often the antique furniture and delicate pieces.
With the current generation's attention so absorbed by the internet, David says the focus is on the latest gadgets and trends. "People watching HGTV shows are changing over their decor faster and faster, and buying furniture and design items that do not last. We're supporting China like crazy and the beautiful things that have lasted for a hundred years," he looks around him with a sigh, "Go unappreciated."

That reminded me of IKEA catalogue shopping, and David told me that the "flat-pack" shipping of assemble-yourself furniture goes back to Sears-Roebuck over 100 years ago. "Of course, it was solid wood back then." Today's living spaces are designed much differently – sometimes smaller and sometimes far larger - often open concept with no formal dining room.

With all these changes, to what does David attribute his modest success in this business? "Experience...and luck," he says, "And merchandising. You have to present things as they can be used today, in the customer's home." Lower buffets or dressers can be television stands; pieces made for dining rooms can be useful in bedrooms, for example. Mixing styles and eras and picking out accent pieces that just catch your fancy are all part of the joy of shopping in a never-the-same-on-any-two-visits store like David's.

David gets some inventory from auctions and Kijiji, but often from locals who bring in pieces when they downsize or have to clear out an estate. Not everyone is ready or able to simply donate their family treasures to a thrift shop. Sometimes they have looked up their piece on Ebay and got excited by the prices people might get in the American urban market. He may have to take out a silver hatpin and burst their bubble, but David knows what the local market will bear and dealing fairly is what keeps such a business in business.

There's a bargain-basement downstairs in The Antique Shoppe for those who like a deal, but from the main floor full of solid furniture, paintings, lamps, china and flatware you could furnish a home for much less than you might imagine. And then there are the kind of things you never know you wanted until you see them – like vintage postcards, linens, Christmas ornaments or toy soldiers.

David expects to be back open in a day or two, after losing a week of business to the fire. If you've never been in, now's the time. And if it has been a while, I guarantee there will be things you haven't seen before.