Editorials

Springs Blooming Celebration at Antiques Parlour

Antiques Parlour in Cleveland, Tenn., has been adding a lot of old stuff to the store. However, as soon as it comes in the door and gets settled, it goes right back out the door to a new home. The new owners/managers are not complaining at all. In fact, they sometimes wish they had just a few more nooks to place them. They invite you to help them move some more items on April 13, when they have their “Springs Blooming Open House Celebration”. They challenge you to visit and look for that long-awaited treasure.

Stan Anderson and Gary Bates took over Antiques Parlour just over a year ago, and they are loving every minute of it. Gary has been selling antiques and collectibles for about 15 years, but has purchased and treasured them for over 25. Gary had booths at the Antiques Parlour, located at 208 Grove Avenue in Cleveland for a number of years. He met Stan several years ago and Stan happened to own another building with a store located in it in the Soddy Daisy area, just northwest of Chattanooga. Gary helped at this location for a while, and when the previous owner of the Parlour decided to sell, Gary was already familiar with the store operations. It didn’t take long for him and Stan to make up their minds and thus said, they have been very busy and enjoying every minute of it.

Stan has a full-time job as a flight attendant. When he gets home and on his extra days off, he too works at the Antique Parlour. Gary loves old gardening, yard art and old primitives that can be used as they are, or he will work to make something out of them.

Gary told me that Stan enjoyed furniture and decor from the ‘50s – more retro with straight lines and more simple in style. After Stan has been around the beautiful pieces he sees while dealing in antiques and vintage decor, he is loving other styles and really enjoys seeing the different things that come through their doors.

Gary has an excellent eye for furniture and loves to find good used furniture that he can touch up and make ready to put on the floor for display. They look for good deals, because that is exactly what they will be giving the customers. Gary likes to move the merchandise and make room for more. I have found several wonderful pieces of vintage furniture as well as many accessories he’s picked that I now enjoy in my home.

You will love browsing at Antiques Parlour as there is so much to see. There is a large booth that focuses on iron, which means anything from the large selection of iron skillets to chicken fryers. There are tools of every kind, lots of primitive baskets, buckets, lanterns, metal baskets, great selection of advertising signs, bedroom sets, really nice patio tables and chairs, as well as some fine wicker furniture. I saw some unusual things that I hadn’t seen before except those that were real. Real as in ‘alive’! Gary found a huge steer – cow – in a lady’s front yard and he asks if she’d sell it. Well, now it’s for sale at the Parlour. Looks right at home in the window with lots of old seeders, planters, and other yard items closeby.

The Antique Parlour has over 15,000 sq. ft. of floor space and Stan and Gary share the space with over 50 dealers who all have a knack for finding our favorite items. One of the Parlour’s long-time dealers also makes custom furniture from old barn wood. He will custom design your selections, whether it is a nice bar for your kitchen or game room or tables, hutches and potting benches.

You’ll want to hurry to Antiques Parlour to get a glance at the nice metal porch chairs that just came in the door. There’s very fine cottage furniture and accessories in several booths; nice rose and floral china, and other beautiful glassware and serving pieces throughout.

I noticed lots of Victorian and vintage hats in the Parlour and Gary said the college kids love them and are repurposing them for the “Steam Punk” look! You’ll likely see lots of items that you might see on the Vampire Diaries or the Twilight movies.

Stan and Gary suggest you take a look at your favorite decor magazine and find a room that you want in your home. Bring it with you and they will help you find the selected pieces that make the room, if they don’t already have all the accessories in the store at Antiques Parlour. You might just find something you can’t live without in their pictures. For more information, call 423-476-6921 or email them at antiquesparlour@bellsouth.net. You can also ‘like’ them on Facebook.

By Maxine B. Jones, Ocoee, Tennessee