Everything old is new again New marketplace-caf? latest addition to growing Bangor antiques scene

BANGOR – A box of four silver handles that were once attached to a Victorian casket. A stone jar for carrying oysters home from the fish market. A folk art scepter made from pine cones. Valentine’s Day cards with jewelry attached, just as they used to come in the 1950s.

These are a few of the items inside auctioneer John Cheney’s glass case at the Antique Marketplace and Cafe, the newest antiques store in and around Bangor.

“I like the unusual,” Cheney said. “I sell the beautiful, too, but I like the unusual.”

Whether you’re in the market for unusual or beautiful things – such as a Connecticut highboy dresser for $7,800 or a 1888 Joseph Rockwell violin for $3,750 – you just may find it at the new antiques mall, which opened Oct. 1 with heirlooms and artifacts from 100 different sellers.

“It’s like a department store for antiques and collectibles,” Cheney said.

The mall, at 65 Main St., is located in the former Woolworth’s department store. Antiques of all sizes and price ranges cover two floors, a total of 15,000 square feet. Sellers rent space and price their own items. Buyers can shop or browse the collections, which employees say change daily.

Items for sale include old books, photographs, jewelry, rugs, furniture, dishes and some things that aren’t so easily identified. There are stained-glass panels and musical instruments, old milk bottles and vintage toys. Pieces range from the rare, such as a complete pink luster tea set, to the exotic, such as a 3-foot Buddha statue from the 19th century.

The store opened only a few weeks ago, but there is already a waiting list for retail space, according to owner Paul Cook, president of Maine Real Estate Management LLC. Hundreds of customers have already come through the double front doors.

“The reception has been amazing,” he said. “It’s the kind of shop that is a good fit for a downtown.”

Cook said he always thought the building would make a great antiques center but no one seemed as interested in the idea as he was. So he decided to do it himself. In April, he began renovations. Workers installed new carpeting on the street level and sanded the old maple floors on the lower level. In the center of the upper level, they cut a portion of the floor away and built a wide, concrete staircase. They also set up a cafe where the Woolworth’s lunch counter used to be and updated the fire, security, plumbing and electrical systems. Bills are still coming in, but Cook estimated the renovations so far have cost about $160,000.

Every piece inside the new mall has an interesting story, and the building itself is no exception. At the turn of the 20th century, the store was FW Woolworth’s, a popular five-and-dime.

Fire tore through the block on Feb. 13, 1927 and the building was heavily damaged. But the store was rebuilt, and Woolworth’s continued until the mid-1970s. After that, it operated as LaVerdiere’s drug store and later as a military surplus store.

On a recent rainy afternoon, Elaine Peresluha walked through the aisles in search of a cupboard. Peresluha, a local minister who is renovating her home, said she prefers to recycle old things rather than buy new.

“I like things that are functional, that serve a purpose,” she said during her first visit to the mall. She was also checking the price tags of items she has at home, like a 19th-century butcher block made of solid maple.

“You never realize whether you have something that is worth something,” she said. “And then you wonder whether you should sell it.”

Paul S. Noddin, an antiques dealer for 43 years and one of the sellers at the mall, said the new store is a boost to an already vibrant local antiques market. Shoppers can look around for as long as they like without feeling watched by the store owner or obligated to buy, he said.

“There is a little something for everybody,” he said. “Every so often, I find something myself.”

While the new mall seems to be a welcome addition to downtown, it brings the total number of antiques shops in Bangor and Brewer to only eight. While the area may not have the antiquing reputation of places such as Hallowell or Camden, shop owners say there are deals to be found all around.

“You can always find something in any shop,” said Patricia Alcott, owner of Alcott Antiques on Central Street in Bangor. In business for 27 years, she specializes in country and primitive items, folk art and braided rugs.

Ireland’s is just across the street from the new antiques mall. You can also find David Price, an antique seller for 45 years, on Center Street in Bangor. Price, a friendly and talkative fellow, owns Old Paint, which features furniture and second-hand items.

In Brewer, The School House Antiques Mall on South Main Street includes 65 sellers and four floors of collections. Riverside Resale, on the same street, is a smaller shop full of furniture, lamps and other items. The store also offers layaway. More than 50 dealers sell their wares in the three jam-packed floors of The Center Mall in Brewer. And further out on Wilson Street is Mitchell’s Antiques and Collectibles, which appears to have recovered from a devastating fire last January.

Hours at local antiques stores vary, so it is best to call ahead.

Dealers and shoppers alike seem to be excited about the new antiques mall.

“I’m hoping it will be a long-lasting endeavor,” Alcott said.

“I like them having a lot of different vendors,” Peresluha said. “I’m excited that it is here and I hope they make it.”