By BEN STODDARD
Walking through an antique store is like a trip into nostalgic central.
Antique stores are about more than just grandfather clocks, early camera equipment and 100-year-old furniture. You’ll find tons of collectible items ranging from classic comic books, sci-fi toys, model cars and collectible coins. In addition, they also have jewelry, furniture, dishes and cutlery. Even if you don’t buy anything, just looking at the collector items can make for an entertaining afternoon. It’s sort of like a flea market, but without the food, and it’s all inside.
Market Road Antiques is owned by the same family that owns the St. Jacobs Farmers Market. It is located at 845 Weber St., right across from the St. Jacobs outlet mall.
The store has existed as an antique store for two and a half years – before that they sold market fresh food. Like the farmers market it has different vendors selling different things, however, you purchase everything at the main desk and can use debit and credit. The vendors aren’t always in the building, but there is always the regular staff ready to answer questions and help you purchase the more expensive items that are locked up. There’s something there for everyone according to Sharron Atkinson from Market Road Antiques.
“We get a little bit of everyone here,” Atkinson said. “Around September, we get lots of students buying furniture … a few weeks ago we had lots of people buying dishes for Thanksgiving. We even get people on horses every now and then. We get about the same number of customers from every age group.”
Each vendor’s section is divided by thin, wooden walls or shelves. The building is well-lit and dominated with light brown and white. Soft music plays quietly in the background and for the most part, people talk quietly. It feels high-class, yet you won’t feel uncomfortable in a joke T-shirt.
Market Road Antiques has a 30-foot section dedicated exclusively to old vinyl records with a large variety of musical styles. CDs of famous musicians and bands are available as well.
The antique store also has plenty of old coins from various places around the world. They have Mexican gold from the ’30s, quarters from the ’50s, American half-dimes from the 1800s, Newfoundland money from before they joined Canada, and even multi-coloured coins from Australia. They also have collector plates, ranging from famous historical figures to Star Trek. The stores have plenty of jewelry available too, both old and new.
For toy collectors, there are tons of Star Wars toys ranging from the early ’90s to toys released in the last few years. They have lightsabers, action figures that include comic reprints and even an ultra-rare R2D2 cookie jar from 1977 – the year the first Star Wars movie was released. Non Star-Wars fans still have plenty of toys to look at, such as vintage Hot Wheel cars, wooden dollhouses, old Pez dispensers and giant Pez dispensers.
The antique store has lots of movies in both VHS and DVDs including some hard to find ones. Classics include Casablanca, Goodfellas and the original Planet of the Apes and kids movies such as Dumbo, the Wizard of Oz, Toy Story and various Muppet movies. If you’re more of a reader, the antique store has hundreds of books available. They have classic children’s books including the original Hardy Boys series; many are hardcover and in good condition. They have a bird-watching book printed in 1969, a hardcover book featuring every front page of the New York Times from 1851 to 2009 and another book about how comic book art has changed throughout the years.
Speaking of comics, they’ve got hundreds of comics available. There are early Hulk comics, X-Men, Woody Woodpecker comics from back when they were 25 cents and old issues of Archie. There are also vintage issues for every major superhero from both Marvel and DC, and even a couple of No. 1s.
There are also vintage magazines. Hotrod car magazines from the ’50s are available as well as hockey magazines from every decade since the beginning of the NHL. TV Guides from decades long gone are also on display.
“No particular kind of product is noticeably more popular than another,” Atkinson said. “What we sell the most usually depends on the time of year.”
Market Road Antiques is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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