Holy Mackerel!
For the past 7 weeks, Johnny and I have been busting our cans between our jobs and our businesses.
On April 7th, the landlord of our tiny little retail space – which was really only used as storage for inventory that hadn’t yet sold on eBay, at various flea markets & antique shops, and at home shows – told us that much larger & much more desirable space would suddenly be available in two weeks. Did we want it?
Okay, we’re both working very demanding jobs, dozens of hours each week. We were already exhausted from those jobs, from trying to slowly build our antiques business, and from months of being sick (bouts of pneumonia for him and sinusitus for me).
Did we really need to add on even more stress?
Well, I never have been one to avoid a challenge…
So for the past 7 weeks, we have pushed as hard as we could to prepare not only a wonderful retail space for Heritage Collectibles that’s nearly 4 times larger than our old space and has amazing windows to showcase our inventory (but would now require that we have regular store hours), but we also decided to keep the old space and use it as a thrift shop for inventory that didn’t make it into Heritage Collectibles… and to offer monthly vouchers to low income people to get household items for free.
Our goal was to have Heritage Collectibles completely ready in time for the first ArtWalk of the season (which was last night, May 29). And Holy Mackerel… we did it!
We’ve spent hours and hours and even more hours at auctions and estate sales (both on-line and in person), hauling and setting up the inventory purchased, dealing with the financials and developing a marketing plan, staffing the two shops…. All while also working our regular jobs.
We’ve been so exhausted we could barely see straight.
In the past two days we finally got the wire grids needed for the walls, so our stunning variety of art could be properly displayed… thank goodness for the huge effort John put in, getting those grids mounted.
While there’s still more work to be done (HA! There will always be more work to be done), we are wicked proud of what we’ve accomplished.
Now, we’re looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning!
Main Location: Heritage Collectibles at 189 Main Street, Lewiston ME 04240.
Hours: Usually 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on Thursdays|Fridays|Saturdays and 12:00 noon to 5:oo pm on Sunday. We’re also often open until 7:00 pm on Fridays.
These hours may vary depending on the demands of our day jobs (Linda is a social worker, and John is the post press supervisor at the local newspaper), whether we are exhibiting at a show, or are attending an auction we just don’t want to miss! Your best bet is to call us first to make sure we’ll be there, or to make an appointment.
Contact us:
Maine locations
… John: 207 713 0674 or JSnyder@regroupbiz.com
… Linda: 207 740 2247 or LSnyder@regroupbiz.com
Los Angeles location
… Jessamyn: 818 738 4713 0r JHopkins@regroupbiz.com
Generic Email
… HeritageCollectiblesMaine@gmail.com
Other Locations:
… Cabot Mill Antiques, Fort Andross, Brunswick ME
… Sherman Oaks Antiques Mall, Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks CA
Upcoming Shows & Exhibits
… none scheduled at this time; we’re taking a breather!
Message re Our Products:
All of the items we offer are vintage, antique or simply pre-owned. Therefore, reasonable wear & tear is to be expected, and our items are sold as seen and as described in the photos and/or in person.
We try to describe any damage, nicks, blemishes or other problems of which we are aware in any and all of our listings, and always include plenty of clear photographs which are integral to the description, so please review them closely.
Also, please be aware that vintage and antique items are unlikely to be in factory condition, so if you aren’t used to buying antique or vintage items – and are in fact looking for a pristine, unused item – a new reproduction may be better suited for you.
We ordinarily do not “clean up” items because such cleaning may detract from their value.
We are specific and honest in our descriptions because we want happy buyers who will return and/or refer their friends!