Finding treasures in Leelanau’s antique and vintage shops
By Linda Beaty
Sun contributor
Many of us have at least a few objects from the past that we cherish. That platter with the colorful gobbler painted on it that Grandpa always piled high with savory slices of turkey meat each Thanksgiving. Grandma’s button collection, or an Austrian crystal Santa Claus brooch that Mom used to wear on her good coat at Christmas time. Relics such as these connect us with the past and have great sentimental value. Yet when we see an antique sign on a shop window, many of us hurry by, either believing that the objects within are too expensive — or without personal meaning.
But antique and vintage shops are treasure troves for all, with many items quite affordable, says Julie Lattimore, owner of Maple City Trading Post, which opened for a brief time last summer and reopened this May. Not only do “old things” tell a story and take us back in time, but they are the ultimate in recycling. A rustic chicken feeder, for example, can be transformed into an artsy flower planter, an old map given a modern frame to lend a vintage vibe to contemporary décor.
While the definition of “antique” is something that is at least 100 years old, the Trading Post carries primarily “vintage” items, things from the more recent past that you may remember seeing or using as a child. There are aprons and “house dresses” a la I Love Lucy days, Depression glassware, classic hardback children’s books, vintage cake toppers, handmade furniture, old kitchen and farm tools, and fishing lures, to name just a few. And most of the price tags won’t make your blood pressure rise, either. “I like to keep my prices reasonable, to keep it fun to find treasures,” says Lattimore.
In addition to old finds that Lattimore recovers at estate sales and garage sales are plenty of new items, such as hand knitted baby caps, kitchen towels, candles, jewelry and accessories and local food products. For the kiddies, there’s even a jar of unpolished Petoskey stones.
How did Lattimore get into the antiques and vintage business? “I love old things,” she says.
But it wasn’t until she read an online article called “How to Start a Small Business in a Few Hours” a few years back that she seriously considered doing just that. “I followed it step by step, and here I am,” she explains.
As for location, Maple City offered the least expensive commercial space available on the market, says Lattimore, who moved about a year ago with her husband from Grosse Pointe to live permanently at the summer log cabin on Fisher Lake in Glen Arbor that they’ve owned for 30 years. And although she didn’t know a lot about Maple City at the time, she is more than happy with how she — and her shop — have been received by the community. “People stop by to give me things, or just to sit and talk. I get a lot of tips for cleaning my finds up,” she laughed.
While Maple City Trading Post is a great starting point for a Leelanau treasure hunt, there are several other shops worthy of a stop. Another “new kid on the block” is Provemont Pickers in Lake Leelanau, owned by Sarah Mead-Wall. The shop, which is on St. Mary’s Street and opened last year, features both antique and vintage items, as well as local artist’s craftwork. Mead-Wall, who has worked in retail business her entire adult life, chose her business “because I’ve always been a thrift shop shopper.”
Merchandise, which she finds at estate sales and auctions, ranges from glassware to vintage jewelry to antique toys and folk art. “I like to have something you’re not going to see anywhere else,” she said.
Like the vintage blue kid’s pedal tractor. Or the “rare find” oil and vinegar glass dachshunds.
Mead-Wall had initially thought to name her store “Awesome Crap,” but believing it to be a bit too irreverent for a shop next to the local church, decided on Provemont Pickers, both for the original name of Lake Leelanau and after American Pickers, a reality show that premiered on the History Channel in 2010 that follows expert antiquers as they scour America’s junkyards, basements and barns for hidden gems.
You’ll find the store open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and “never on Sundays,” said Mead-Wall. “I’ve worked every Sunday for many years,” she explained. “Now I don’t have to.”
Two old favorite Leelanau area antique/vintage stops are Misers Hoard in Empire and Cedar Emporium. Misers Hoard, owned by Paul and Heidi Skinner for many years, had originally carried only antiques, but since 2011, features a unique blend of old and new. And the Cedar Emporium, owned for 27 years by Brenda Bugai, carries “one of a kind collectibles,” mostly home décor. A special treat while shopping at the Emporium is that it’s also home to Bugai’s secondary business, Sweeties, which carries homemade baked goods, including cakes, cookies, pies, sweet breads and more.
This definitely sweetens the treasure hunt deal.
