“I think pretty much anyone can come in and shop and find something that they really, really like,” said manager Tim Irwin.
Serving as the anchor store for the 120,000-square-foot Union Centre Pavilion neighborhood shopping center, the business spreads its wares out across dealer booths, locked showcases and display towers. Starry Night Arts & Frames, located next to the store's lounge, features hand-painted art.
The antique center already is at 70 percent capacity during the first phase of construction with 200 dealers in the store’s 134 booths, 146 locked showcases and 16 display towers.
The second phase of construction is expected to launch this spring and will add another 120 booths. A third phase this fall will add 154 more showcases and 34 more display towers.
In the works for the new store is a conference room for antiquing classes for collectors and seminars for dealers looking to maximize their business, according to owner Alex Wang. There are also plans to offer live auctions on site, Irwin said.
Peg and Dennis Eversole of Fairfield Twp. said they like that the business is clean, large and well-lit.
“It brings back memories,” Dennis Eversole said. “I see stuff from when I was a kid.”
“Things that we’ve owned,” Deb Eversole said, and laughed.
West Chester Antique Center absorbs credit card fees and collects sales tax for each sale, charging vendors a 7 percent commission on each sale.
“All they have to worry about is bringing in more stuff in for us,” Irwin said.
That hasn’t been an issue for Mark Hubbard, who said he is open to the idea of moving all of his items from a different antique center and selling them only at West Chester Antique Center.
“I think this will be a lot better than there, as far as traffic goes,” he said. “Opening day (in West Chester) I made what I’d make at the (other store) in a week.”
Hour are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. The store only plans to close on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas and close early on Independence Day, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
For more information, call 513-486-2098 or visit www.wantiquecenter.com.
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