I decided to take a break from writing about antique related items and situations and try something new. When I am not at the store, and have some free time, I read. When I was young, and owned my bookstore, it was science fiction and classics. As I have gotten older, I find that I […]
Twenty Bucks… There is an interesting phenomenon out there. It happens to many people every day, mostly men, but they really don’t understand it or are aware of it. Some are, but with most, it happens on a near unconscious level. It’s not malicious, it just happens. What is this strange occurrence? “It was only […]
I often get calls at the store from folks who are looking to sell their items. Sometimes it’s a single item (a piece of furniture or a doll, for instance), other times it’s an entire collection. I never know what the next phone call will yield for the store. Many times, people will come into […]
How do small businesses create polices? It’s easy; they don’t. The customers do. I know, you are asking how that happens. Well in a nutshell, policies are created when something happens that’s outside of the business owner’s experience. As small business owners, we try to anticipate everything that could happen that could affect us. It’s […]
Collecting antiques can be a fun and rewarding hobby on many levels. It doesn’t have to be a hobby that breaks the bank. Not all antiques belong in the British Museum or have to cost as much as the Hope Diamond & there is much more to the hobby than buying low and selling high. […]
I have noticed lately that some small businesses are offering a discount if you pay with cash. It got me thinking and wondering if this was really a good idea. Credit card fees can be expensive. No one wants to pay them. They are yet another expense that a small business has to deal with […]
In case you are not familiar with craigslist, it’s essentially an online free classified ad website. It was started by Craig Newmark in the mid 1990’s to highlight events in and around the San Francisco Bay area. It is now used in nearly 70 countries and in multiple languages and has many categories such as […]
People have been collecting things for a long time. Some collect for fun, others collect for the hunt and some collect for the investment. Most of us have inherited something or bought something we thought might become valuable at some point. Since the prices of antiques and collectibles have varied much in the last several […]
Everyone thinks that celebrities are really intelligent people. Maybe some are. However the way I see them, they are not any smarter than you or me. Most celebrities are/were normal people who were in the right place at the right time to be discovered. Marilyn Monroe was a pretty normal farm girl until someone saw […]
Well it’s getting to be that time of the year again. The holidays are upon us and among all the craziness that’s going on right now, we can take some time and enjoy some nostalgia and memories of Christmases past. One of the most vivid memories I have of my youth this time of year […]