The Tradition Of The Antique Shop, Alive.

Scenic View around the Muskoka Wharf in Gravenhust, Ontario.   Summer of 2012. (Photo by Fred Schulz)

THE TRADITION OF THE ANTIQUE SHOP STILL BRINGS US HOME TO OUR PAST

WE'RE HAPPY TO BE FRONT LINE ANTIQUE FOLKS ONCE AGAIN

     AS A WRITER, I AM HABITUALLY RECLUSIVE. IT HAS ALWAYS BOTHERED MY DEAR WIFE, THAT I CAN STAY HOLED-UP HERE FOR DAYS ON END, WORKING AT THIS KEYBOARD. WHEN WE WERE ACTIVELY PURSUING ONLINE AUCTIONS, AS A WAY OF CONDUCTING OUR ANTIQUE AND COLLECTABLE BUSINESS, MY OFFICE WAS OCCUPIED MOST OF THE TIME…..EITHER FOR COLUMN WRITING, OR DOING EBAY BUSINESS. LISTING ITEMS BECAME A HUGE WRITING CHORE, BECAUSE A LOT OF WHAT WE WERE AUCTIONING OFF, ESPECIALLY AS MUSKOKA REGIONAL NOSTALGIA, DEMANDED MORE THAN A SIMPLE ONE SENTENCE EXPLANATION. THE POINT IS, SUZANNE DID HAVE REASON TO BE CONCERNED, AS OUR LIVES SEEMED FAR MORE RESTRICTED AND HOME-BASED THAN THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN. I EVEN HAD TO CURTAIL OUR TYPICAL HUNTING AND GATHERING ADVENTURES, DURING OUR PEAK EBAY TIME, BECAUSE THERE WAS TOO MUCH ADMINISTRATIVE WORK CATCHING UP WITH SALES TRANSACTIONS. AS SOON AS THAT WAS DONE, I'D HAVE TO JUMP BACK ON THE COMPUTER, TO MEET ANOTHER DEADLINE FOR EDITORIAL COPY. THIS DID START CRAMPING MY EDITORIAL PROTOCOLS, AND MADE EVERYTHING SEEM TOO MUCH LIKE A CAPITALIST GRIND……THAN THE KIND OF WORK WE HAVE ALWAYS INSISTED WOULD BE AT LEAST FIFTY PERCENT RECREATIONAL…..AS WE HAVE ALWAYS FOUND ANTIQUES A SOCIAL, CULTURAL, RECREATIONAL EXCEPTION TO HARD WORK. THIS IS WORK WE LOOK FORWARD TO, AND NEVER SEEM TO WEARY OF THE SAME OLD, SAME OLD. EXCEPT OF COURSE, DURING THE FINAL YEARS OF OUR EBAY RELATIONSHIP, WHILE HANDLING A MAJOR ESTATE……AND IN PART, IT DID LEAD US TO RE-CONSIDER OPENING A SHOP WE CLOSED UP IN THE MID-1990'S, DUE TO OTHER MORE PRESSING OPPORTUNITIES. I WAS SIMPLY SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME INDOORS, AND WHEN I CLOSED MY EYES, ALL I COULD SEE WAS A WAVERING COMPUTER LIGHT AS AN ALMOST PERMANENT IMPRINT. I WAS DOING LISTINGS IN MY DREAMS FOR GOSH SAKES.

     OVER THE LAST FEW BLOGS, I'VE TRIED TO PRESENT A FAIR OVERALL PROFILE OF THE ADVANTAGES WE EXPERIENCED AS ACTIVE, DAILY EBAY SELLERS (AND BUYERS). I HAVE ALSO TRIED TO PROVIDE SOME COMPARISONS TO OUR OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH STOREFRONT ANTIQUES, AND ALSO, THE ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES OF BEING PART OF THE SHOW CIRCUIT IN THIS PROVINCE AS AN ALTERNATIVE SALES OPPORTUNITY. I CAN HONESTLY SAY NOW, THAT WITH OUR LATEST VENTURE, IN STOREFRONT SELLING, AS ATTACHED TO OUR SON'S VINTAGE MUSIC BUSINESS, IT HAS PROVEN TO BE THE PREFERRED WAY TO CONDUCT BUSINESS IN THE FUTURE. WE DIDN'T PLAN TO BE STORE CLERKS, AFTER MY WIFE'S RETIREMENT FROM TEACHING, THIS COMING JUNE, BUT HAPPENSTANCE AND COINCIDENCE PROVIDED A STRANGE ALLURE THIS TIME. I THINK WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT THIS TIME AROUND, IS OUR FAMILY ATTITUDE ABOUT MAINSTREET BUSINESS. WE'RE ALL EXPERIENCED IN THE TOURISM SECTOR, AND WITH THE BOYS NOW WRAPPING UP THEIR EIGHTH YEAR IN THE SAME LOCATION, OBVIOUSLY, THEY'VE MANAGED TO FIND SUCCESS IN BOTH A TOUGH ECONOMY, A RE-BUILDING MAIN STREET, AND IN A DEMANDING INDUSTRY NEEDING A REGULAR CLIENTELE. THE FACT WE HAVE ADDED AN ANTIQUE COMPONENT ON THE BACK OF THEIR SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS, HAS MADE THE WHOLE AFFAIR A SORT OF DESTINATION EXPERIENCE, WHICH OUR CUSTOMERS TELL US IS A REAL BONUS TO THEM, WHEN VISITING GRAVENHURST.

STILL A FACT OF BUSINESS IN A TOURIST REGION

     After a slow winter, which for us began in late October, we're still delighted as front-line antique sellers, to have so many out of the area travelers and visitors to Muskoka, drop in for a look around…….through all kinds of weather, and consistently over months we expected would be void of tourism altogether. Our businesses are not only different in terms of the inventory we sell, but the attraction it offers. The boys, Andrew and Robert, have a far bigger following in their hometown, and Muskoka generally, because of their music connections in the region……as both performers and suppliers of what is called "back line" provisions. They can rent out performance related equipment  or entertainment venues, which generates extra money, when at times business is slow in retail. Both lads have been teaching guitar and drum lessons for almost a decade, eight years in this Muskoka Road building. In addition, they supplement their store income, by offering recording services for musicians wishing to make a CD of their work, as well as working off-site as sound technicians for a number of regional entertainment venues. It's demanding work, through day and often late into the night, but they have in less than a decade, built themselves a future in their hometown……without ever once seeking assistance from a lending institution to fund their business plan.

     The point of this, is not to bestow honors upon my own kids, for their accomplishments……and by the way, they wouldn't accept them anyway, because they don't believe they are as successful as mom and pop think they are. They are modest when it comes to accepting congratulations for their achievements this far……almost as if to do so, would inspire bad karma, generating misfortune instead of success. When we joined them as antique pickers, we planned to spend most of our semi retirement time, on the road, hunting and gathering interesting pieces in this part of Ontario. I wanted to get out of the house more, and away from my office…..where this keyboard beckons me constantly. But opportunity got in the way, and honestly, we're glad it did. I've enjoyed being an antique shop clerk again, even though I dreaded the idea of being left alone, to tend customers, as Suzanne finished up the balance of her teaching days. I was a pretty fair front-liner back in the old days of our antique shop in Bracebridge, but over time, I've become more contented to be obscure…….and yes reclusive. Suzanne knew the signs of a writer in residence over-doing the creative thing, and it was with great enthusiasm that she took hold of the boys' offer to join them, in the rooms behind their music shop. I was a little reluctant, until Suzanne told me we could buy a laptop, and a desk, to be placed in a convenient location in the shop……such that I could write and then wait on customers, with only a swivel of a stool. It was the right thing to do; I know that now. I feel better about the business prospects and it seems more exciting here in the front-line of the profession, than it was hiding behind a keyboard and computer screen, prowling for business in cyber-space.

     I'm glad we did the show and market circuit as antique and collectable dealers. It was a sort of antique dealer boot camp. It was a hard life on the body and on the many vehicles we wore out this way. The EBAY online auction experiences were invaluable, and I'm glad we decided to pursue it for as many years as we did. I do believe we were meant to go back to main street selling again, by all the circumstances that occurred in the past two years……to make us revise a business plan, and join forces with our sons, who have a tad more moxie than mom and pop. Suzanne is looking forward to her final days at school, and the immediate start-up of our busy season here in cottage country…..starting with the Canada Day holiday. But as I've mentioned before, we take our antique pursuits much more casual these days, and actually take time to enjoy our business exposure…..rather than the way we used to endure it…..which always bothered me. I started my involvement in antiques before I graduated university, and have been involved in the profession, in one way or another, since 1977……as a buyer, seller, and author of many columns on the antique profession, dating back to 1978, and my first published column in the fledgling Bracebridge Examiner. Now I write antique related columns for two significant publications, "Curious; The Tourist Guide," and "The Great North Arrow." I love both these publications….and this blog, that also outreaches deeply into the antique collecting community.

     So, as it is today, Suzanne and I are the "mom and pop" antique dealers, in Gravenhurst, side by side their sons, having their own take on the antique and collectable trade …….vintage instruments and vinyl instead of quilts and pine cupboards. We love going to work, and after all, isn't that what it's all about.

     Thanks for visiting today. I have just been called out to pick up some family members, and by the sound of it outside, there's a major rain event in progress. So be careful if you have to venture out. See you again soon.

Please visit my other blog at http://muskokaaswaldenpond.blogspot.ca/