This featured image says it all! Standing together.

 

 

We made the decision to close out our antique mall space April 30th. We placed everything on sale at 50% off. The first weekend, we sold almost all of our larger items! There are still a few things left to sell but for the most part the sale was successful. As we process this closing, these memories come up.

In 2014, I saw an ad in a window of a downtown storefront in Paris, TX. It was a new antique mall opening up and they had spaces for rent. I had wanted to have a mall shop for many years but never moved forward to do it. This was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I figured a new mall would be the best way to begin this adventure.

 

We laugh when we think of our first mall space. We called it “The Color Spot!  I painted the floor in a black and white tile pattern. We filled it with all things color. From flip flops, hand bags, and little brightly colored crock pots, it was bright! It was energizing for sure! After a few months, we discovered chalk paint. So, we began painting furniture in bright colors. Orange, blue, yellow, anything that was bright would fit into The Color Spot. After a season, our tastes changed, and the market changed and we began repurposing furniture.

 

After a couple of years, we changed the name to “J and L Creative Design” while we tried to sell the remaining stock of colorful things. Chip and Joanna Gaines gave us a vocation! Through their farmhouse decor, we discovered we could fabricate farmhouse design that would sell. We built farmhouse tables, coat racks made out of old doors and chalk paint furniture. This was great fun! To feel the energy of creativity flow through my daily projects was natural to me and released wonderful things into the world around.

After a while people began contacting us to “build” things for them that they’d find on Pinterest. This was a challenge that we’d accept and attempt to create for them a likeness of their desires. We mostly accomplished it, and they were happy with the creations.

 

 

Some memorable builds over the years:

 

Several years later, I met Margaret when I saw some weathered wood for sale. I bought several things from her and one day she said she was opening up a mall. She said she wanted us to be in her mall. So, I went to check out the space and became one of the first to rent space from her. Margaret has been one of the most encouraging friends in our creative business. She has had me build many things, and was always confident that I could do anything I put my mind to. This has been tremendously helpful and invaluable to me personally. So, it was decided to expand our retail space to two mall booths. At a later point, about a year later, it seemed a good time to pare down to only one space, so Powderly Antique Mall won out.

 

When we moved into the Powderly Antique Mall, we were one of the first vendors to reserve a place. We completely built out a room, walls, floors, moldings to make it attractive! We painted it and began to fill it. A couple of years later, the mall moved to a new location. This meant for us, we had to completely disassemble our “Room” and move it across the street. It FIT! We decided to repaint it a lighter color but overall, we were able to recreate our space once again.

 

 

We’ve made a lot of friends through the mall business. We’ve sold virtually everything we put into the mall. Some things lasted years, but eventually they sold. We’ve built furniture, collected antiques, visited a LOT of estate sales in search for things that would be fun to own for a little while and sell. Each month has been an adventure.

As time went along I realized the main reason for opening a mall space wasn’t to make money, though we made some. It was a place to have a connection to the surrounding community. The store owners have been wonderful. We’ve grown as people, and gained so much from the wisdom and support from other mall vendors. The other vendors have varied from those I did’t know at all, to those who became friends. We’ve helped each other out, sold things to each other, and have had many things in common.

Just yesterday I received a call from Judy. John, her husband, and Judy were some of the first “junk collectors” we met in this business. We were vendors at Remember When a mall in downtown Paris, which was where we began this business. They have been so helpful and kind all through the years. Judy was concerned that we may be sick or something because she heard we were closing our booth. They truly cared for us through our connection over junk. We will miss running in them at a sale, or at their own booth in Paris.

We’ve learned about collecting, values, what’s sellable, and what isn’t. We’ve spent a lot of time searching Ebay, and Etsy for other items and their values. We’ve joined FaceBook pages for Fiesta, Harlequin, and antique telephones as well as several local Swap Shop pages. Renting an antique mall space has been a way of life in many ways. We’ve discovered other small towns and their malls. We’ve had fun talking with their owners and connecting through this common thread. We’ve developed open eyes for things for sale and quickly responding to the FaceBook posts with “I WANT!” to hopefully reserve our potential purchase. We’ve had to stop a day’s work to drive 50 miles to pick up a purchase so we didn’t lose it!

Closing our mall booth is an end of an era. I feel sad about it in many ways. The smiling faces of our mall friends will remain with us. What we’ve learned from them, we will carry with us. We don’t know if we’ll do this again in Hot Springs. We will check out the malls there to see if there is a fit for us.