End of line for Harry’s Treasures
LOWER MERION >> After more than two decades in business, the longtime owner of an Ardmore antique shop is retiring and closing his store for good. And what are the plans for the longtime owner of Harry’s Treasures?
He plans on going back to how he started decades ago. He’s going treasure hunting.
Earlier this year, Harry Althouse, 68, decided it was time to retire. Along with getting in some fishing and work with nonprofits, he also plans to hunt for antiques in places like old barns. But it won’t be for a business. Instead, it will be the same way he began - as a hobby.
Growing up in a rural section of Lancaster County, Althouse developed his interest in antiques because they were always nearby.
“My grandmother, my aunt and my mother’s house were full of antiques,” Althouse said. “So I was around them. I liked them, and I started collecting them.”
So when he got his first apartment, he realized there was just too much stuff there. So he decided to sell some of it.
“I made some money doing this, and that was when the hobby became a part-time business,” Althouse recalled.
So Althouse figured out that if he found something he wanted to buy, it could be purchased along with three or four other things. That way, he’d get a better price and then sell the items he didn’t want.
“It would pay for my hobby and make a couple of dollars,” he said.
Before opening his store, Althouse had a full-time job — but on his off-hours vsit the antique and flea markets in Lancaster County to sell some of his treasures.
After moving to Ardmore, he decided to open the Lancaster Avenue shop he’s had for over two decades.
When asked about his retirement plans, Althouse joked and said his retirement plan is to go fishing. But the main thing is to relax and enjoy life a little more.
“Having a brick-and-mortar [store] ties you down,” Althouse said. “Three years ago, I went down to four days a week.”
But when he cut back on his days, he realized he wanted to cut back more.
Before trimming those hours, he was open six days a week and then going out and hunting for new items the other day of the week.
The other thing he plans on doing is continuing to work with a few of the nonprofit groups that he has worked with over the years.
But along with a little fishing and with the decision to close his store at the end July, Althouse said he plans to go back to his roots and do what he did back in the 1970s before opening a store.
“I’m going to do my true passion and going out and hunting the antiques – going picking,” he said.
He equated what he did with the television show American Pickers.
“In the ‘70s, that’s how I used to get my stuff,” he said.
In those days, it was just a matter of going around to the old farmhouses and asking if he could look through the barns of the local Mennonite farmers.
He said they were always surprised as to why he wanted to buy their old things. Ardmore owner to retire, go back to his roots of hunting goodies
“That’s the fun of it, the thrill of the hunt. That was what I enjoyed the most,” he said.
Since opening his business over two decades ago, Althouse has also become entrenched in the Ardmore business community. That includes being on the boards of both the Ardmore Business Association and of the Ardmore Initiative.
“Ardmore is the most convenient place I’ve ever lived,” he said.
He called the town convenient because residents don’t need a car with the train station nearby travel to New York, Boston or anywhere else. There are buses up and down the street all day and two hospitals that are very close.
“You can walk to everything you really need,” Althouse said. “It’s busy, and it’s getting busier, but it’s safe. I always felt safe here, and the police station is right there.”
For Althouse, supporting local Ardmore businesses was how he helped support his store.
Living just a few blocks from his store, another thing Althouse said he supports the local businesses by purchasing what he can in town rather than going out somewhere else.
“I’ve often told people I live, work and play in Ardmore,” Althouse said.
For the store, Althouse said he has already started his retirement sale in the hopes of liquidating his inventory by July 31 when his lease is up.