The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Main Street Antiques’ collectibles cater to all tastes
At Main Street Antiques in Oberlin, every nook speaks to its own personality, and every cranny carries its own character.
In one corner, signage that reads “Behind the Barn Door,” directs customers to countless barn tools fixated on display. If customers look to the left, another room, termed as the “Clock Shoppe,” features antique and refurbished clocks that line the walls, each of their hour hands ticking their own tune.
Since its inception 20 years ago, co-owner Shirley Raifsnyder, of Pitsfield, said the business was built on the foundation of family, although not all of its 20 co-owners and vendors are connected through blood.
“We consider it a family business because we’re all very close,” she said. “We’ve been here for 20 years. We consider we’re adopted to them,” she said with a laugh.
But one of the main ideas Main Street Antiques seems to project with its products is the appeal they have to consumers of all ages and interests.
Raifsnyder explained the ranging products provided by its many vendors cater to the tastes of broad audiences. Each vendor has their own rooms devoted to their products, and although owners could not put a number on how many rooms the business has, Raifsnyder speaks of the store’s diversity in that one customer may walk out the-door with a 300-year-old antique, she said, while another might purchase a freshly signed baseball.
“To say that we have one type of item, no, we do not because there’s too many dealers to say,” said Raifsnyder, whose product rooms in the store don’t have a specific theme, but mainly center around antique furniture, dolls and primitives, such as old boxes that have been reconstructed and are home-ready.
“You’ll see a kind of an eclectic mix,” said Oberlin resident Joyce Perry, another vendor at the store. “People will come in and look for something specific and half the time ... if they spend time wandering around and looking for one (item), they’ll buy something else, too.”
Perry stated her passion for antiques did not begin with a love for collecting. Instead, about 40 years ago, she said she purchased a century home in Oberlin and looked to complement it with an old stove for her kitchen.
Maribeth Joeright/News@MorningJournalcom
As she began decorating the home, her interest for selling and buying items grew. She later got on the bandwagon to display her items in the store, which her daughter Michelle Peters opened up with two friends about 20 years ago.
She noted the importance of antique stores in cities as the number of these types of businesses continue to dwindle.
“What appeals to us is what we remember from growing up. It’s an addiction,” she said of antiquing.
Similar to the rest of the business, the upstairs floor emits the atmosphere of a disorganized organization. A bit darker and rougher with items more dispersed than its downstairs counterpart, the secondfloor houses more furniture and smaller items that are too delicate to display.
Main Street Antiques also features a “Book Nook,” shelving hundreds of books catering to the tastes of adults and children, with the likes of Charles Dickens, Nancy Drew and almanacs from the 1950s stacked on its shelves.
With the business’ Christmas open house Dec. 6-7, more than one room will display holiday-centric items including ornaments and aluminum trees from the 1950s and 1960s.
But December isn’t the only time of the year antique lovers look for Christmas treasures to add to their collections.
“All year long, we get people coming in for Christmas items, so that is a collectable that people do want to add to their collections,” Raifsnyder said.
Owners explained despite antiquing sometimes being viewed as a hobby for a certain target audience, they believe the art form still appeals to all age groups.
Perry explained that college students are popular visitors of the store, often scouring the business for old records or items to decorate their dorm rooms.
Many antique items have proven to be sustainable despite their age due to the quality in which they were made, in contrast to newer items that “won’t stand the test of time,” she said. This element plays a part in why antiquing is still a popular form of shopping and collection, she said.
“These chairs and furniture — some of them have lasted 100 years,” she said as she pointed to an antique dresser from 1910. “Some will last more years.”
Raifsnyder stated the business has return customers from outside Ohio.
“Our base — to say it’s one particular category — we can’t do that,” she said. “We get everyone that’s out there on the road.”
Rusty Mackenzie, 61, of Avon, has been coming to Main Street Antiques for 10 years as an antique collector.
Mackenzie often likes to dig for unusual items she can repurpose in her home, such as old beer bottles or dishes, and she remarked she doesn’t have a difficult time spotting what she likes at the Oberlin business.
“It’s fun; I usually will find items I collect here, so that brings me back,” she said, adding the business also has items of interest to her husband.
“They have that kind of thing to lure him along (to the store) with me,” Mackenzie said with a laugh.
From cookie cutters in one nook to furniture pieces in the next, and from pottery and plates filling one room to antique jewelry displayed in another, Main Street Antiques and its 20 vendors aim to cater to all tastes with their items.
“Every name of an item you can come up with,” Raifsnyder said, “you’re going to find it in this store.”
Main Street Antiques is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The business can be reached at 440-7754112.