In with the old

By Travis Loose, Hanna Elliott and Kaitlyn Sledge

Let’s play a word association game.

Consider the following terms: Trash; clutter; superfluous; hoarder; miscellany.

What words first came to mind?

If you instinctively thought of treasure, variety, essential, collector, or collection, you just might be an antique enthusiast.

“I was a Hot Wheels collector,” Glenn Myers says. “I collected the old redline Hot Wheels—the old ones. I had a pretty decent collection going. Then I started collecting Lava Laps; and then I started collecting knives; then … well, then my wife banned all my collections from the house.”

Myers is the owner and operator of the Trash-n-Treasures Antiques and Collectibles shop on Main Street in downtown Springfield, Oregon.

After earning a degree in computer network operations, Myers watched with consternation as Symantec’s Springfield office began outsourcing its jobs to India.

With few options, Myers allowed a friend to introduce him to the business of buying and selling storage units—much like the A&E television program, “Storage Wars.”

“One thing led to another,” Myers says, “and within two years, I had my own store.”

Now, nine years after becoming involved in the antique business, Myers has successfully run the Trash-n-Treasures for the past five years.

Many antique business owners will rent out space in their shops, per square foot, to local antique dealers.

Penelope “Penny” Dolan, owner of the Oregon Antique Mall in Eugene, says that she rents space to 12 dealers—who all pay her 12 percent of the sales that are conducted through her store.

Chuck, the co-owner of the Antique Peddlers in Springfield—who chose not to provide his last name for this article—says that his store provides space to 25 dealers, and asks for a 10 percent commission because, as he says, “It’s only fair.”

“We’ve had some dealers that have been in here a long time,” Chuck says. “We’re satisfied with [10 percent].”

Myers rents space in his shop to only two dealers.

“I did the math,” Myers says. “I make more money per square foot selling my own stuff.”

For one of his dealers, in lieu of rent, Myers says, “We barter her space for time worked, so I get a day off.”

For some antique shop owners, maintaining a relationship with dealers not only provides steady revenue through commission contracts, but it also significantly decreases the workload by outsourcing the time consuming process of locating and obtaining the valued collectibles they will attempt to resell.

“I go out to garage sales and auctions,” Myers says. “People call me and I go out and look at stuff. I don’t do like a lot of other places where they would buy the estate, or have an estate sale or something like that. I’m a one person show.”

“I’ve got a rule of my own that most places don’t have: If I can’t pick it up, I’m not gonna buy it.”

One of those places, which Myers is indirectly referring to, is Vintage Revival on Mohawk Blvd. in Springfield.

“I go to auctions,” says Dean Brayton, co-owner of Vintage Revival. “Lately, we’ve been buying out more estates; we just go offer a dollar amount and take it all.”

“We rent the building; but all the contents—all our storage—we own, and we just buy it outright from people.”

Brayton, along with his wife and co-owner Angela Tennent, have successfully maintained their antiques, collectibles, and quality used furniture store for the past four years.

Their store contains a good deal of the same antique store wares, but does differentiate itself by offering considerably more furniture than most other businesses that fall under the same category.

The reason for deviating from the strict ‘antiques only’ business model, Brayton says, is because “We’re always looking for how we separate ourselves from everybody else, so it creates a fun niche.”

There are sections throughout the 8500 square foot property that are setup like settings you’d find in a house.

There’s a kitchen section, a bedroom section, a western themed section and a sports themed section, just to describe a small handful of the themed nooks and corners.

Interestingly, it appears as though the owners who have fewer dealings, or none whatsoever, with dealers are allowed to manipulate the ways in which they offer their antique goods.

While Brayton and Tennent offer an incredibly wide variety of exceptional merchandise, Myers takes pride in qualifying his business as “The place to find mantiques,” he says.

Upon entering the store, it becomes abundantly clear that Myers’ is far more masculine in appearance than most other antique shops.

A glass case filled with knives is the first display many customers will notice.

Also, on occasion, Myers says he has some fun by setting up displays in his front window that depict a Barbie doll with her flavor of the month—another doll, be it Indiana Jones, Wolverine, or some other random character—in various risqué or otherwise compromising positions.

A complete photo collage of Barbie’s deviant antics can be found on Myers’ website, trash-n-treasures.com.`

“I do enjoy it,” Myers says. “I better because I don’t make a lot of money. When I buy stuff, I buy it with the intention of trying to triple on it—though that rarely happens when I finally sell the item. If I do double, I’m happy.”

Brayton shares that same sentiment.

“The antique market started softening 10 or 12 years ago,” Brayton says. “When the economy went down, so did antiques. What I used to be able to sell for $1500, I’m lucky if I get $600 or $700 now.”

“You also have to remember that we’re in Springfield, Oregon. We’re not in Portland or San Francisco.”

Oddly enough, there are a total of 16 antique and collectible shops in the Eugene-Springfield area; 10 of which occupy Springfield exclusively.

The building that houses Brayton’s business is also home to two other antique shops.

“Antique stores are fighting an uphill battle right now,” Brayton says. “It’s a tough market. And if I was strictly antiques, with this many square feet, I would have probably had to stay with my previous job. I gave up $80,000 a year.”

“You reach a certain point in your life where you go, ‘Okay, I’ve beaten the door. Now I want to do what I enjoy.’ And it’s not the same amount of money, but it’s what I enjoy.”