Barrie Antique Centre to close on June 30th

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RCO

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[h=1]City's 'hidden gem' closing its doors and displacing all of its treasure[/h] Barrie Antiques Centre on Innisfil Street will close on June 30
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about 20 hours ago by: Shawn Gibson


After 16 years of being the to go-to spot for vintage enthusiasts, the Barrie Antiques Centre is closing its doors on June 30.
The 23,500-square-feet building, located at 272 Innisfil St., has been sold to developers for a still-unknown project, leaving hundreds of vendors looking for a place to take their wares.
Sales associate Craig Durham told BarrieToday the decision was made a week ago.
“We could have maybe extended our time a little bit, but ultimately it is going to be changed into something else, so the writing was on the wall,” said Durham. “With the decision only made a week ago, staff are still checking out their options. Personally, I’m not sure what I’ll do, but I’m optimistic something will turn up.”



The antique centre is three levels, but feels like a never-ending treasure hunt, with hallways leading to rooms full of some of the popular items people look for to add to a collection.
“Right now, advertising signs from the 1950s or earlier are very popular right now,” said Durham. “Records are always popular because they sell to all folks in society, and after that it is a little bit of everything such as mid-century furniture, Canadiana and anything, of course, that sparks a bit of nostalgia.”
Jim Connolly and his wife, Velma, are antique fans and were at the centre looking for a deal on Saturday.
The retired school teacher told BarrieToday he tries to make it out as often as he can for the classic items he loves .

It is a real hidden gem and I was very sad to hear it was closing down. I kept thinking that we never take advantage of what’s close and we end up driving miles away instead of our own backyard,” said Connolly. “I like pop culture so things from the '50s and '60s pique my interest along with art deco, anything colourful.
"I’m 64, so anything really from my past from TV or movie and even some old classic sports and wrestling magazines.”
There are some deals already being advertised in the centre and likely more to come, but the items are owned by vendors who sell their wares in the building so prices are usually up to them.
Durham said that while he can’t predict the prices, he assumes there will be some lowered costs as the June 30 deadline looms.
“I’m not sure what the vendors will do. Some will more than likely move to another building or market, but I really don’t know,” he said. “I don’t control the prices, but as you walk around you can see some deals already popping up, so by the time the closing day comes, we should have some good deals happening."


https://www.barrietoday.com/local-n...rs-and-displacing-all-of-its-treasure-1337657
 

RCO

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another shocking closure of a large antique mall in Ontario , the Barrie Antique Centre which was one of the largest and seemed to be one of the more successful ones as it had been operating for over 16 years at the same location . is suddenly closing down

I just saw the article online and have not been in the building since the news broke , so I'm not sure what kinds of specials or discounts are being offered .

but they did have some bottles , many books and other antiques the last time I was there , its multi vendor so you never know whats there or what items vendors might bring out for a closing sale .


its too bad its closing , it was actually one of the better antique malls around , although some of the prices did border on insane . but I did find a few interesting items there over the years and will miss the store when it closes . no word if someone plans to open up a new antique mall in the barrie area


although there is an antiques store in downtown barrie called " mantiques " which has some bottles and the long running 400 antiques mall in the 400 market is still open
 

saratogadriver

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My observation down here in the US has been that the internet, particularly auctions like Ebay, are tough on the group antique shops. Now the pickers can go directly to the retail market without a monthly rental fee or selling through a middle-man, AND they have a national audience. So that Montana medicine found here in VT can be sold to someone with a local interest. I've seen several nice group shops here in VT go out in the last 10 years.

Jim G
 

RCO

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My observation down here in the US has been that the internet, particularly auctions like Ebay, are tough on the group antique shops. Now the pickers can go directly to the retail market without a monthly rental fee or selling through a middle-man, AND they have a national audience. So that Montana medicine found here in VT can be sold to someone with a local interest. I've seen several nice group shops here in VT go out in the last 10 years.

Jim G



I'm not exactly sure what went on there . the real estate market in the city of Barrie became a lot more competitive since they first opened 16 years ago . any land in the city now seems to be targeted by some sort of developer . so the older building they were in started to become a target for re-development

I'm not sure how much online sales hurt them , its no doubt a lot of the items in there store could also be found online and some vendors might of been able to sell certain items for more money thru those sites than in store .


also think it had a reputation for over priced items , had a lot of display cases filled with neat old things but the prices were so ridiculous , you'd never honestly consider buying anything from them . the vendors though there items were worth insane amounts of money , perhaps now with it closing they might finally realise there never going to get those prices
 

CanadianBottles

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Jeez, sad to see another one go. Antique stores around here have actually been on an upswing lately which is nice. We went from having maybe four or five antique stores five years ago to around a dozen now. I don't think the internet has quite as much of an effect in Canada as the US since our shipping rates are so much higher. I know I don't buy antiques over the internet, but then again I don't spend much on them either. I think a more pressing issue is that the big ticket items which used to keep these stores in business, particularly antique furniture, are out of style these days. People now are interested in mid-century items, which a lot of the old dealers aren't accustomed to selling. Almost all the new antique stores that have opened up around here focus mostly on mid-century collectible stuff (few bottles sadly) and mostly avoid the big oak desks and that sort of thing. These stores are also feeling the effects of the housing crunch, now that city centre real estate is a hot commodity a lot of these stores aren't profitable enough to pay the rising rents or avoid getting knocked down and turned into condos, which sounds to be the case of the Barrie store.
 

RCO

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the real estate market seems to have played a role in the Barrie store closing , although I'm not sure that is the case with all of them

also a large antique store that just closed down recently ( end of December ) in downtown Orillia , the building seems to be sitting empty now .

also the " Queensville antique mall " north of Newmarket closed down recently as well . I tried to go in there in February and it was empty except for someone selling video games in the front part ( it never really had much good stuff anyways and I bought maybe 1 bottle there ever )


I'm not sure if someone will try and open a new antique mall in the Barrie area or not , perhaps too early to say as this one isn't closing till June . it also may depend on what % of the vendors still want to keep selling and how many are ready to retire anyways


not exactly sure whats going on with the antique market in that part of Ontario , perhaps its on a downward swing after having been growing for a few years before that . but there are still a few other antique malls in that area which remain open and seem to have customers at them ( 400 antique market just south of Barrie is the largest one , also " Antiques on 11 " just north of Orillia which has only been open a couple years and seems to be doing well )
 

RCO

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forgot to mention there is also some antique stores in Cookstown Ontario , its maybe 10 - 15 minutes south of Barrie . its always sort of been known as an antiques destination although I'm not sure there is currently any active antique stores on main street

there is however 2 in the northern end of town on the highway , a smaller antique/collectable store and the cookstown antiques market which is a reasonably sized market ( but much smaller than Barrie ) . although I can't recall buying more than 1 or 2 bottles there ever .


so with the Barrie mall closing its possible the antiques scene moves back into places like Cookstown which have always been known for such places
 

JKL

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Just heard today that the Stratford Antique Warehouse in Stratford Ontario is closing up on May 20th.
This is a nice big beautiful antique warehouse.
Note on their website says that the land was sold and building set for repurposing.

Again, like others stated, very sad to see these awesome stores close their doors.
 

RCO

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Just heard today that the Stratford Antique Warehouse in Stratford Ontario is closing up on May 20th.
This is a nice big beautiful antique warehouse.
Note on their website says that the land was sold and building set for repurposing.

Again, like others stated, very sad to see these awesome stores close their doors.


unfortuently brick and mortal retail stores seems to be dropping like flies , not just antiques , some big chains are also suddenly closing up ( payless shoes , home outfitters , green earth store ( store I had never heard of but apparently in most malls )

but I remember when our goodwill stores closed a few years ago in Toronto and Barrie area , ( somehow there still open in Guelph / Kitchener area ) they left a gap but soon after new thrift stores opened and now there is more thrift stores than ever in Barrie and a huge new one opening soon ( Talize thrift store )

so perhaps if there is still a market for antiques in places like Barrie and Stratford , someone new will open up a new market or store . it all depends on how many of the vendors want to keep selling and if there is anything affordable to rent in the area
 

RCO

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with so many places closing or already closed its making me kind of wonder who's going to be open in 2019 ? a lot of the stores in smaller towns , if they closed , there not going to write up a newspaper article about them , they just sort of disappear , so your not going to know there gone until you drive by or in those smaller towns

also finally got a chance to check out the closing sale in Barrie , but currently reductions are only in the 20 % > 30 % range so at over priced antique mall prices there still pretty high especially for there bottles , so I didn't buy any

although they did have a used book vendor selling off his books for $2 each and was a few good deals there
 

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