Geneva Antique Market Press Releases
August 11, 2011
“INVISIBLE” ANTIQUE MARKET THRIVES ON GENEVA’S 3rd STREET
Geneva Antique Market Celebrates 20th Anniversary Against All Odds
It is unusual enough to find an antique market in business for 20 years in the same location and rare for the core dealer group to remain nearly unchanged. Now add the fact that the business cannot be seen from the street level and it’s easy to see why the Geneva Antique Market is in festivity mode. Their 20th anniversary observance during the entire month of September is all about GRATITUDE for the success of the business in the positive climate of the Geneva business community and GIVING BACK by including a food drive for a local food pantry.
The Geneva Antique Market invites the public to an Anniversary Open House on Friday, September 9, from 10am to 7pm, during Geneva’s famous Festival of the Vine. Refreshments will be served and non-perishable food items are welcome. The Open House is part of the month-long celebration, featuring anniversary promotions and the food drive. Geneva Antique Market is located at 227 S. Third St. in Geneva. It occupies nearly the entire Lower Level of the Berry House, a charming multi-shop century-plus building. Stop in and see why the readers of West Suburban Living have voted them “Best Antique Market in the Western Suburbs” for three years.
The 12 dealers who comprise the Geneva Antique Market co-op have grown into a family, each contributing unique antique expertise across the inventory categories of jewelry, glass, toys, pottery, ephemera, china and porcelain, primitives, books, folk art, Flow Blue, vintage Christmas, textiles, postcards, furniture and fine art. The sum of their Geneva Antique Market experience is 156 years and their total number of years in the antique business comes to 216.
Reflecting on their good fortune, the dealers describe three kinds of folks who come to their shop. There are the loyal customers who come back and back and have actually become friends and the new customers who have heard of the market because of them. Then there are the folks who didn’t even know they were going to an antique shop when they left home, but they “fall into the door” because they are “doing 3rd Street.” This last group affords the opportunity to have them discover the wonder of the market and return again on purpose. There is genuine gratitude among the dealers that the Chamber and the City obviously understand the value of tourism to small businesses.
For a business that is essentially about the past, there are some surprising aspects. This dealer group creates monthly themed vignettes of inventory gathered from all the dealers in an artful Center Table display that rivals some of the most professional retail merchandising. They offer an electronic newsletter, The “Vintage Voice,” by free subscription. It has shop news, promotion alerts, education, tips on caring for antiques and information on Geneva events. In addition to their own website, www.genevaantiquemarket.com, they have an online antique store on Ruby Lane and you can follow the Geneva Antique Market on Facebook. And yet, great care has been taken to create and maintain an antique market that far more resembles an old-fashioned mom and pop store than an antique mall with rows of square booths.
When people express surprise that an antique business can be successful in a down economy, the dealers have some good guesses as to why. They do not allow new merchandise as some antique shops do. They appreciate their good customers who are avid collectors, decorators and gift buyers of vintage merchandise. They are blessed to be in a vibrant downtown business community. And, most of all, they think that the love of history, nostalgia, old things and memories is exactly what folks need in tough times.
“INVISIBLE” ANTIQUE MARKET THRIVES ON GENEVA’S 3rd STREET
Geneva Antique Market Celebrates 20th Anniversary Against All Odds
It is unusual enough to find an antique market in business for 20 years in the same location and rare for the core dealer group to remain nearly unchanged. Now add the fact that the business cannot be seen from the street level and it’s easy to see why the Geneva Antique Market is in festivity mode. Their 20th anniversary observance during the entire month of September is all about GRATITUDE for the success of the business in the positive climate of the Geneva business community and GIVING BACK by including a food drive for a local food pantry.
The Geneva Antique Market invites the public to an Anniversary Open House on Friday, September 9, from 10am to 7pm, during Geneva’s famous Festival of the Vine. Refreshments will be served and non-perishable food items are welcome. The Open House is part of the month-long celebration, featuring anniversary promotions and the food drive. Geneva Antique Market is located at 227 S. Third St. in Geneva. It occupies nearly the entire Lower Level of the Berry House, a charming multi-shop century-plus building. Stop in and see why the readers of West Suburban Living have voted them “Best Antique Market in the Western Suburbs” for three years.
The 12 dealers who comprise the Geneva Antique Market co-op have grown into a family, each contributing unique antique expertise across the inventory categories of jewelry, glass, toys, pottery, ephemera, china and porcelain, primitives, books, folk art, Flow Blue, vintage Christmas, textiles, postcards, furniture and fine art. The sum of their Geneva Antique Market experience is 156 years and their total number of years in the antique business comes to 216.
Reflecting on their good fortune, the dealers describe three kinds of folks who come to their shop. There are the loyal customers who come back and back and have actually become friends and the new customers who have heard of the market because of them. Then there are the folks who didn’t even know they were going to an antique shop when they left home, but they “fall into the door” because they are “doing 3rd Street.” This last group affords the opportunity to have them discover the wonder of the market and return again on purpose. There is genuine gratitude among the dealers that the Chamber and the City obviously understand the value of tourism to small businesses.
For a business that is essentially about the past, there are some surprising aspects. This dealer group creates monthly themed vignettes of inventory gathered from all the dealers in an artful Center Table display that rivals some of the most professional retail merchandising. They offer an electronic newsletter, The “Vintage Voice,” by free subscription. It has shop news, promotion alerts, education, tips on caring for antiques and information on Geneva events. In addition to their own website, www.genevaantiquemarket.com, they have an online antique store on Ruby Lane and you can follow the Geneva Antique Market on Facebook. And yet, great care has been taken to create and maintain an antique market that far more resembles an old-fashioned mom and pop store than an antique mall with rows of square booths.
When people express surprise that an antique business can be successful in a down economy, the dealers have some good guesses as to why. They do not allow new merchandise as some antique shops do. They appreciate their good customers who are avid collectors, decorators and gift buyers of vintage merchandise. They are blessed to be in a vibrant downtown business community. And, most of all, they think that the love of history, nostalgia, old things and memories is exactly what folks need in tough times.
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