I had a day off from life, so I wanted to take a break from everything and enjoy some antiques. I was not sure which direction to go, so I looked online for some stores that I had never heard of before. Yelp has a huge listing of places, but there are no promises that they are still active and opened. My goal for the day was to find some new places and help clean up the inactive Yelp businesses. I will not name the stores which I never found but will definitely let you all in on the ones I did find!
The first location I found was Bitterman's Eye Candy in Kansas City. I read about this location in a small write-up in Discover Vintage America. This is a candy store and an antique store. According to the article, the store is stocked by some of the people who do the stores in the West Bottoms. So, the items are pretty close to the same style. The store also has a lot of great candy. The thing that made me smile the most was the fact that they had candy from the '80s, such as Ninja Turtle ooze. There is a sign that says "The candy on display is not for consumption", but it was still fun to see it on the shelves. Don't worry; there is also edible candy. They had salt-water taffy, sixlets, and so much more. To top off the fun atmosphere of the store, there is an old pinball machine that is not for sale. The purpose is for visitors to play it (for free).
The next stop I made was Show Me Antiques. I have seen this store many times while driving down State Line in Kansas City, and I have never stopped. Well, today was about discovery, so I had to stop. The shop is full of fine antiques. There are several pieces of fancy furniture. There is a display case with some silver and pieces of art on the wall. It was all too fancy for my blood, but it is in the fancier area since it is sitting on the Kansas side of the state line.
Weird Stuff Antiques has been on my list to find for some time. All of the reviews on Yelp stated that this place was full of oddities, and that is a lure that always attracts me. I get tired of seeing the same things at every store I go to, so this should store should be a nice break if the reviews are correct. Weird Stuff Antiques is a very fitting name for the shop, and I was not disappointed. The location for the shop is in an industrial area of the city.
The store is two-stories and FULL of "stuff." The items in it include close to 200 bicycles, metal lunchboxes, signs, radio equipment, furniture, and much more.
The prices seemed extremely reasonable, and I found a lot of items I would have loved to purchase. When I have money to burn, I will definitely be back. I spoke with the owner of the shop, and he stated that he sold a lot of his merchandise online. If that is the case, I would assume the inventory changes a lot.
From Kansas City, I headed north to Claycomo. I found a nice antique mall called Timeless Treasures Antique Mall, which is in a strip mall down the road from the Ford assembly plant. This antique mall is back to the normal antiques, but the store is a big one. There are lots of booths to wander through. There were several booths with some great finds, and I could have spent a lot of money there.
The road of exploration led me to Liberty. Liberty is the home of Bradford's Antiques and Liberty Antique Mall.
My parents always talked up Bradford's and said how nice it was. Well, my parents are more into the finer things in life. I grew up with them buying wood furniture and buffets for the dining room. I should have taken that as a hint since Bradford's is beyond my taste. However, it is a very neat place to browse. The items are fine wood furniture, phonographs, and jukeboxes. It was fun to see the variety of items, but I could never afford the items, even if I wish I could.
Liberty Antique Mall was more of my pace after being a Bradford's. It is a two-store building with a lot of area to explore. The first floor has a lot of rooms that lead into other rooms. It all leads around in a circle, so feel free to explore without feeling you will miss something. There is a second floor that is open with several booths to explore. One booth that stuck out was the one with records for for sale. It is hard to beat a $1 record from a huge selection. I told myself that I would have to come back and dig when I had some money to spend. The prices seemed fairly reasonable on all of the items I looked at.
Then it was time to race home to be there when the wife got home from work. I was able to find some great new shops to share with her.
Until next time... Happy Hunting!
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