By ERIC C. RODENBERG
AntiqueWeek Editor FAIRFIELD, Ohio — Having a personal shopper service is something high-end clothing stores have used to great advantage, but an antique mall is finding the service works in the vintage world as well.
During the past year, Melanie Staggs has been offering a personal shopping service at the 65,000-square-foot Ohio Valley Antique Mall in Fairfield, a suburb of Cincinnati.
Among the 350 booths and 200 cases at Ohio Valley, Staggs is the “go-to” person should you be seeking a “Yakkity Yab green robot from the 1950s,” a wart hog/wild boar inkwell, ear horns (for the hearing impaired) or Rin Tin Tin memorabilia from the popular 1950s TV series.
Although a lot of antique stores and malls have a “wish list,” mall owner Paula Faxon and Staggs believe they have “gone a step beyond.” For example, if a person finds an item they would love as a gift, that person can leave the name and phone number of their significant other and the mall will call and give the person a heads up about that special gift opportunity.
Rummaging through “hundreds of thousands” of items in the mall, Staggs has successfully found lobster traps (a novel find this far inland), fairing items (vintage trinket boxes given away at fairs), pie birds and old electrical medical items.
“Every day is a surprise,” Staggs says. “You never know what people want … it’s fun. I have a blast doing this.”
As the Personal Shopper at the Ohio Valley mall, Staggs will go out into the mall on a moment’s notice – or shoppers can leave their contact information, allowing her to take a few days or longer in her search. Currently, she has “three huge volumes” of requests filed alphabetically and checked daily.
Collectors may also contact Staggs through the company’s website.
“Between Melanie and myself, I’d say we know where a lot of things are,” says Faxon. “It’s just another customer service – and that’s what we’re all about.”
The personal shopper service – in all its guises – has worked exceedingly well, according to Faxon.
“No one else (in retail antiques) does anything like this to our knowledge,” Staggs says. “It was an idea I brought over from working in retail clothing.”
As both a customer and antique collector for the past 10 years – plus, being a booth renter at the mall – Staggs has an interesting “take” on what shoppers are seeking.
Stainless steel “real working” percolators are always desirable. “They don’t make them anymore,” she says. And some people, seemingly, prefer coffee made the “vintage way.”
Rotary phones are another coveted item. “I think people want them more for that ‘vintage look,’” Staggs said.
Also falling into the “nostalgic” category are the 1950s chrome trimmed kitchen tables and chairs.
“Those good sets are becoming scarce,” she says, “They go really fast … we’ve sold a lot of those.”
Of course, there’s the “niche collectors,” requests for locomotive lights for actual trains, obscure milk bottles from long-gone local dairies, or wooden organ tuning pipes.
Then, nostalgia plays a big role.
“There’s always some lady looking for that certain Barbie dream house,” she says, “and a lot guys looking for GI Joes.”
As sales promotions and event planner, Staggs also coordinates the mall’s several monthly events.
In the past the mall has staged Civil War fashion shows, Ladies High Tea and Vintage Fashions Shows, Classic Car Cruise-ins and Old Fashioned Ice Cream Socials.
But, with all the activities and a brisk business at the Ohio Valley Antique Mall, Staggs is still the one to see for the serious collector who wants to “cut to the chase” and find those elusive branding irons, a Mobo Snail (child’s riding toy) or the large ship wheel.
“Sometimes it’s a shot in the dark,” Staggs says. “But, our vendors are bringing new things in everyday. You never know what we’ll find.”
For more details, call 513-874-7855 or visit www.ohiovalleyantiques.com |
