The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
PLACE IN HISTORY
Crosby’s Antiques values the past in Milan
Milan’s new mayor is no stranger to running a business in the city she governs.
Pam Crosby’s Crosby’s Antiques, 4 N. Main St. in Milan, has held a storefront in Milan’s historic downtown for almost three decades since the business moved from Huron in the early 1980s.
Crosby said she has been in the business of antiques for even longer and now works with a variety of merchandise, from china and glassware to dolls and furniture.
“I have pretty much everything,” she said.
A business that clicks with Milan, which is still home to historic houses and buildings, Crosby said her business helps new homeowners find merchandise and furniture to compliment their new homes with rich pasts.
“I’m encouraged that I think it’ll start to come back,” she said of the popularity of antiques.
“Younger people are buying the houses up, and they want to furnish them with antiques.”
Starting in the family
Crosby said her experience with running antique businesses began in 1974 when she was a teenager, working with Sally Crosby before and after she became her mother-in-law.
Crosby said Sally Crosby was a talented woman who left a twist on dolls and other antiques that she refurbished, such as samplers, folk art and oil paintings.
“There’s so much of her in our home and in our shop,” she said.
The Crosbys had three different antique locations that they maintained in Milan, renting out houses in the city to store and sell the antiques.
Crosby said she purchased the shop’s current location in Milan in 1981, where her husband Brian’s business now calls home as well.
She has previously dealt antique furniture, attended shows and refurbished antiques through her business.
With a preference for 1850s antiques, Crosby said she used to buy merchandise from dealers, but now relies on estate sales and fielding calls from locals looking to sell their oldest possessions.
Due to limited space, Crosby has become picky with what furniture she takes in, as larger pieces like wardrobes and dressers take a longer time to sell.
“I have to turn down a lot because I don’t have the room,” she said.
Traveling customers
Most of the customers Crosby has coming through her shop are traveling from surrounding states and areas.
“Ninety percent of the people that come in during the summer, not a lot of them are local,” she said, adding that some of those people come from as far as Wisconsin, Indiana and Pennsylvania.
Some who are from Milan and have since moved away even use the city as a meeting point, going shopping with friends from the area and making their way to Crosby’s Antiques.
Crosby also puts on an antique show sponsored by the Milan Chamber of Commerce in the city’s downtown every year.
This year’s event was canceled due to COVID-19.
Having moved to Milan in the mid 1970s, she said the antique scene looked much different then, with 10 to 12 different antique shops.
“It was such an awesome time because we’re in such a great location right off the turnpike, so we would get a lot of dealer traffic coming through,” Crosby said. “You don’t see much of that anymore.”
A big challenge for the shop this year as for many other businesses has been the pandemic.
Crosby said she has not been open on a regular schedule since March, but has opened on request.
She takes calls at 419- 499- 4001, and depending on the day and time, Crosby said she is able to run by and open up the shop.
Fridays and Saturdays are usually the busiest and the easiest for Crosby to open the business since the pandemic started.
Either way, Crosby said she invites locals to come visit Milan, where her shop plans to remain indefinitely.
“I’m still encouraged and I don’t plan on closing up anytime soon,” she said.