Busy, Busy, Busy

So, finals are next week, and it is absorbing a lot of my time (as well as juggling a family and a full-time job).  We haven't been able to post about some of the great places we have been to in the last month or so because of time constraints.  However, we are still finding new shops and wanting to help you put them on your shopping list.  When we finally get more time (not making any promises since the weather is finally turning into the amazing stuff we expect in April and May), we will get some more posts coming.  Some of the places we have been that still need to be chronicled include Warsaw, Sedalia, a re-visit of Clinton, Tightwad, Liberty, Kansas City... and many more!

Don't give up hope on us yet because summer is going to be packed with information and fun!  While you wait, check out archive.org.  The site has a ton of public domain movies and television shows, which can be streamed directly from the site or downloaded for later viewing.  It is definitely a fun blast from the past (and free to enjoy).

Lexington, MO: A Historical Town

I had some stuff I needed to get taken care of in Lexington, and I asked the wife if she wanted to come along.  The things we were doing were going to take some time, so we decided to check out the antique stores around the town.

For those who do not know, Lexington has been around since 1822.  It has a lot of history.  The courthouse has a replica of a cannonball which hit it during the Civil War.  There was a battle called Battle of Hemp Bales, which was a crucial win for the South.  Visitors can visit the battlefield and museum.  We did not have time for that, but we will go back for a day trip sometime.  (We can share it with you all if you would like.)

The first store we stopped at was Blackthorn Antiques.  It is a smaller location, but they have it packed out with stuff to look at.  This is a fancier antique store, but it is not stuffy feeling like some of them are.  They had a lot of furniture and old books.  I could get into collecting old books, but I would want to read them.  I would worry that I would ruin them if I did that.

Down the street is Lexington Mercantile Antiques & Fabrics.  This shop is set up in an old bank, and it has a very neat look to it.  There is a second level, but it is very small.  The shop did not look very full, but there was plenty to look at.  There were several sections which had items in small bags.  I had to dig through these because I felt like I would miss something great if I did not.  I did find a bag with a small leather zip-up pouch in it.  At first, I thought I found a small Bible, which would have been neat.  Instead, I found a Gillette travel razor, and it was really neat.  But, I put it down because the wife and I mentioned that we should not be buying anymore antiques.  Then she redeemed me!  She found a metal stool that she wanted.  So, we agreed to buy our items.  I found other things in the store which I wanted, but I passed on since we had to be good with our spending.

Missouri River Antique Company was our next stop.  There are two levels to the place.  The first level seemed like newer stuff trying to look antique.  There were some antiques mixed into the bunch, but seemed mostly the boutique stuff.  The basement was more my fashion.  It had old architecture salvage from old houses.  It was fun to look at.  There could be some great finds at this store if someone was restoring an old home.

 A town with a lot of history has quite a few antiques for hunters to explore.  Until next time... Happy Hunting!

Antiques for Rainy Days

The wife and I work different schedules, and our days where we are off usually do not match.  I work when she is off, and we have to work hard to make sure we do have some days to spend together.  When I'm home alone, I get bored because I am like a child during summer break.  Today was a day where I was home alone, so I decided I was going to make the best of it.

I had a list of stores I wanted to check out, but I have not had a chance with my busy schedule.  As I have mentioned before, the wife is not super adventurous when it comes to finding new places.  I love finding new places.  It makes feel like a miner, looking for that next mountain to find my riches in gold.  Days where the wife has to work are perfect days for me to find new shops.

The first shop I hit was Itchy's Flea Market in Lee's Summit.  I have been wanting to check out this place since I saw it was in the works when I talked about us going to the one in Columbia.  Yes, it is owned by the same people, but it is a completely different feeling.  The one in Columbia has a garage sale feel to it, but the one in Lee's Summit is a little nicer.  Lee's Summit Itchy's is in a strip mall next to a Salvation Army store.  It is a single story building but has several booths in it.  There are some consignment items in there, such as a booth that is all DVDs for sale, but there are some nice items worked into the mix.

Mariam's Memories was next on the list for Lee's Summit.  The outside of the building made it look small, but I was surprised at how much stuff was inside. 

The store was packed with breakables, so leave anything bulky in the car.  Since it was raining, I had a coat on, and I felt a little nervous wearing it in the store.  The store has a main portion and then has a back room as well.  There is a lot of glass and jewelry in the front section.  The back section had more glass but also books.  There were complete sets of interesting books I would have loved to read, but I will leave that to a time when I have more time in my life and a library to store all of my books.

When I asked around about good antique stores in the area, everyone asked if I had been to the church.  I got directions, and I visited the church, the home of Henry's Antiques & Collectibles.  It is an old church building which has antiques on the first and second floors and a tea room in the basement. 

The merchandise was a little more fancy than what I prefer, but it was still fun to look.  The first floor had a small room which had kitchen items in it. 

There is a second floor, which is only a half floor, is found by following a step lined with old radios.  I had a lot of fun looking through the place, and I know that the wife will enjoy it as well.

Since I was in Lee's Summit, I decided to head to Greenwood to see what was there.  My parents have mentioned there are a few stores there in a cluster, so I thought it would be worth a shot.

As Time Goes By is the first store I found in the cluster.  There is a front porch, and it is full of stuff the wife would love to dig through, like old doors and windows.  The store has a main level and a basement.  The main level has several rooms to explore.  For the most part, the merchandise is separated enough to not cause an issue.  I would be worried to see the place with much traffic.  Some of the areas would cause quite a jam.  The shop is decorated well, and it is definitely a place for anyone who is pinning things to Pinterest.

Down the road is Greenwood Mercantile.  The shop has achieved the primitive feel very well.  Anyone who has read these posts knows that it is not my cup of tea.  However, I say that this shop did the feeling very well.  I felt like I walked into a little cabin.  There is a large, main room and a small room in the back.  The wife will definitely have to go to this store.

Greenwood Antique Mall & Tea Room is right across the street from the other two shops.  This is the typical antique mall with the typical feeling.  It is very nice size with plenty of things for everyone.  It felt like it was three separate buildings, and they utilize all of the space very well.

There is a fourth antique store in Greenwood but I missed it.  When the wife and I go back, we will definitely swing by and see what it is like.

My adventure then took me over to Grandview to a place called Joe's Town.  Joe's Town is a flea market/furniture store, and a shop owner suggested that I tried it.  If you are deciding on going over there, be warned that it is in a little rougher area.  I don't think the wife will ever see this location because the area would make her nervous. 

Joe's Town has a place for people to get their bills paid, so that kind of gives you an idea of what you are in for at the location.  However, it isn't a terrible place.  It is very large with a lot of furniture on one side of the store.  It would be a place that someone could dig and find something awesome.  Most of the places like that, in my book, are hit and miss.

The final stop of my adventure was Brown's Emporium in Independence.  This is definitely familiar shopping for me, but it is a fun shop to stop into to see what is different in the inventory.  Brown's Emporium is in a shopping center off of Noland Road, and it is a large store.  I wish I could remember what used to be at that location.  There is a section off to the right of the store, where there is an odd little hallway with antiques in it.  I cannot figure out what it used to be, but in antique fashion, Brown's has filled that area with antiques.  The variety of merchandise is pretty awesome, and it seems like it is constantly changing.  Therefore, if you see something you like, buy it; it might not be there the next time.  We learned that the hard way.

So, I have some new locations to share with the wife, and I killed an entire day doing what I love.  Until next time... Happy hunting!

Happy Birthday Antiques!

Last weekend, we celebrated the wife's birthday.  We had a few stops to make around the area, and then we decided to spend the rest of the day antique shopping.  We had a later than normal start due to the stops, but we still had enough time to get to some interesting shops.

We decided we would go to Belton.  We had seen several times there were several shops listed on Main Street, so we figured it would be a good start.  Belton has put a lot of money into building up their main street, which is nice to see in a city since most cities and towns have abandoned main streets.

Whistle Stop Antiques was our first stop.  When we walked in, I could immediately tell I was not going to find anything at this store.  It is a smaller store, but it has several rooms to explore since it expands into the building next door.  The items in the store felt fancier than what we hunt, but we did look at the prices to see what to expect.  We were shocked because the prices were super reasonable considering the feel of the store.  That's always a nice surprise!  The shop has a boutique corner in the rear of the store which I skipped.  I let the wife look since it was her birthday and all.

A few doors down, we found Stacks Depot.  If there was an award for best presentation, this store would get it.  As soon as we walked inside, the wife whispered, "Oh, I'm going to like this one."  It did not have anything all that unique, but it was set up very cute.  This shop also expands into the building next door, so there is plenty of stuff on which to feast your eyes.  The prices at this shop seemed really reasonable as well.

We hopped across the street and found Simply Charmed.  The shop was set up nice, but I noticed that a lot of the items were repurposed.  It is in shops like this where I cannot tell if the items are truly old or just made to look old.  Also, we get tired of seeing repurposed stuff since the wife does a lot of the repurposing herself.  We have to remind ourselves that there are people who do not have the time or talent for that, so they just have to buy it.  If that is the case for you, you should definitely check out this shop because it looked like it was all done very well.

Ruby Red Slippers Antiques and Collectibles was our next stop.  This shop is felt like it was the smallest of the shops we visited, but it had some really nice items in it.  We did not find anything that we needed, but the wife did find a cabinet that she tried very hard to determine a place in the house where it was needed.  The pricing in this store was really inexpensive as well, which seems to be a trend for Belton (an awesome one, if you ask me).

There were other shops on Main Street but most of them were closed.  The thing that was interesting is there is a pharmacy museum there.  I could not find any information on it, but it was very neat to look through the window.

After we left Belton, we went to a shop called Raised in Cotton in Raymore.  We found the listing off of Yelp and decided to give it a shot.  If you have read many of these posts, you will notice that I am not a boutique kind of guy.  The wife is into cute stuff, but she doesn't get too excited about boutique stuff either.  Well, this shop is listed as an antique store, but it all seemed like newer items with a vintage feel.  There might have been some antiques sprinkled into the mix, but I did not notice them.  However, if you are into boutiques, you have to go to this one.  It is in an old farm house, and they have made it all look very nice.  In fact, I know that my mother would have a fit over it.

 

We left Raymore and started toward Harrisonville.  I knew we would pass through Peculiar, so I wanted to stop at a place which I have seen in the different publications called Peculiar Collectors Paradise.  This is located in a little strip mall just inside of Peculiar.  It is full of glass!  They had displays upon displays of the stuff.  I was hoping to find one of my glasses, but I did not.  The best thing I found was an old Mario thermos from a lunchbox.  Funny how you find one or the other but never both.  I didn't buy it because I didn't have the lunchbox to go with it.  Anyway, the place is packed, so walk carefully.  There were some aisles where I felt I should walk backwards to get out of it rather trying to turn around.

Finally, we made it to Harrisonville, and the first shop we went to was Harrisonville's Trade Fair.  This shop is really big.  It has two floors, and the bottom floor seems to keep going as you walk through it.  The items in the shop vary, and I felt that there was a lot of stuff that shouldn't be there (water pipes, really??).  Anyway, that's the price you pay for being at a flea market.  But, for the most part, there are a lot of places in the shop you can breeze through and not miss much.  However, I am sure there is something there for everyone.  The prices vary on stuff as well.  I did find some stuff to buy at this one.  I bought a Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back glass.  It was super cheap, and I could not pass up on it.  Then I found a Missouri souvenir glass that came from Gay Fad Studios.  I will now have to find the Arkansas one to match, but it is just one more thing to be hunting.  I also found some batarangs (you know... what Batman throws), and I had to buy them.

Keeper's Antique Mall was our final stop.   This shop felt quite large, and it is a nice balance to Trade Fair (since they are fairly close to each other).  Keeper's card states that there are no crafts or reproductions, so I figured it would be full of really neat stuff.  There are some neat items there, but I felt it was really pricey.  However, I still like to look in case I find something I want to add to the list to search for in the future.  It was a nice shop to end on though.

Until next time... Happy Hunting!

Helpful Hints: Plan Your Trip

If you are new to the antique shopping gig, figuring out where to venture can be a little overwhelming.  Most people feel that it is a good idea to "freestyle" the trip, not making a plan and trying to find shops by chance.  This can be fun, but I feel that it can be even more overwhelming than actual planning.  My wife and I made that mistake when we went to Little Rock, Arkansas.  We managed to find one shop.  Yes, the trip was a lot of fun, but it was not a solid antique trip.

So, here are some tools to help you plan:

Antique Brochures
Find any antique store, and you will find these.  They are typically at the front door, and they group the shops by major areas (Kansas City, Denver Metro, Oklahoma City, etc.) or by the major highways of the area (I-35 North, I-70 KS, I-40, etc.).  The brochures include the name, addresses, a map of the area, and an ad for the shops included.  The ads sometime give the hours of operations (a lifesaver for the planning and during the actual trip).  If the ad doesn't give the hours of operations, it will give a phone number or a web address.  With smartphones, either method will produce the desired result.  The brochures are updated every six months, which keeps the information fresh.

"But, wait... you said I had to go to an antique store to find this..."

There is also a website to visit.

Discover Vintage America
This is another freebie to be found at any antique store.  It is a monthly publication (kind of like a newspaper) that deals with antiques out of the Midwest. It covers Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma.  Most of the pages are filled with ads for antique stores, and there are interesting historical articles sprinkled through it.  The Discover publications I have looked at mostly deal with the Missouri and Kansas area, so I'm not sure if the ads change by location.  Some of the ads are different than the brochures previously mentioned, and antique stores that do not fall into locations covered by the brochures are listed.  Discover Vintage America provides readers with a schedule of antique shows/events for the current month and the following month.

In case you are new to the antique hunting game, here is the website to get you started.

It should be noted that the last two mentions cost money to the shops listed as advertising, so they are not complete lists.  Even though Kansas City might show three shops in either the brochures or Discover Vintage America, I promise you that there are a lot of shops in the area that are not listed.  So, use these to get your feet wet, not as an absolute key.  

Yelp.com
 If you have not been out to Yelp, you need to go now!  It is a free website that allows users to rate and share information about restaurants, shops, wineries, etc. in a specified area.  Antique stores and flea markets are included on the site.  Yelp provides information about the location, such as address, phone numbers, website address, and sometimes photos.

Yelp is a great resource for new antique hunters and old antique hunters alike to find new shops.  However, since most of the antique shops are operated by an older demographic, it is extremely likely that the shop will not be included on Yelp.  Yelp users can make a page for the site to make a review on it (full power goes to those who own the business).  So, if Yelp is going to be a valuable source, we should all be willing to leave our feedback for fellow antique hunters.

Any store we visit, I make a Yelp review for it.  If you would like to look me on Yelp, you can look here.

Facebook.com
Social media has taken over our society, and Facebook is one of the largest social medias.  As I mentioned about Yelp, most of the of the operators of the antique stores are of the older generation.  The popularity of Facebook has swallowed up some of the operators, which is fantastic.  Facebook might be the only internet presence for some of the shops.  Therefore, if you like the shop, share it with your friends on your Facebook.  If a shop thrives, you are going to get new vendors and new merchandise.

If you have friends who are into antique shopping, they might know some great stores.  Most of the stores my wife and I shop were first visited by my parents.  If you have a lot in common with someone, you will take their recommendations to heart and know that it isn't a shot in the dark.

So, on your next trip, put a little planning into it.  It will be more rewarding and a lot more fun.

Until next time... Happy hunting!