The Mon Valley is a place to shop for antiques
The conventional wisdom over the last couple of years has it that buying antiques is about as fashionable as the earth-tone leisure suits that populated granddad’s closet in the mid-1970s.
Demand is ebbing and prices are falling for the 19th century furniture and the other types of ancient bric-a-brac that fill antique stores and flea markets. We’re told millennials who are now entering their prime years for purchasing household wares are showing little interest in artifacts from days of yore. And the same goes for the collectibles that once enchanted their forebears, whether it’s mint-condition Elvis Presley singles or Mickey Mantle baseball cards.
If you solely used the Mon Valley as a barometer, however, the conventional wisdom would probably be shown to be decisively off.
The communities once known for their steel and boating industries are now home to shops that sell a variety of antiques and collectibles. The stores attract a dedicated group of shoppers from the region, but have also drawn visitors from around the world.
Take, for instance, Tim’s Secret Treasures in Charleroi. It’s hard to miss on the borough’s McKean Avenue, since giant statues of roosters, a cow and gorilla sit outside it. What’s inside the store is just as striking – a full 19 rooms stuffed with a cornucopia of vintage goods. You want a stove that sat in the window of the Kaufmann’s department store in downtown Pittsburgh 80 years ago? You’ll find it in Tim’s Secret Treasures. The same goes for a sampler with the image of John F. Kennedy on it, boxes of records, jewelry, books, and even an Oakland A’s batter’s helmet.
“You never know what you’re going to find,” says co-owner Tim Bradburn with a laugh.
Bradburn and his wife, Rhonda Jaquay, launched Tim’s Secret Treasures in 2007. The couple lives in West Mifflin, and Bradburn works near the store as an accountant for Guttman Energy. The building in which it sits was once a funeral home, and the couple settled on it after they tried to put out a shingle in Gettysburg, but they couldn’t reach an agreement with the owner of a building they were considering. Regardless of its location, the store draws customers from around the world thanks to its Etsy shop online. Bradburn also says that, after seeing what they have to offer online, some customers have decided to make the trek from far afield.
The most unusual items Tim’s Secret Treasures has ever sold? An airplane propeller from World War II and a carousel tiger, according to Bradburn. And even with 19 rooms packed with merchandise, Bradburn and Jaquay have a virtually endless supply of wares with which to restock their shelves.
“We have warehouses filled with stuff,” Bradburn says. “We have enough to keep us busy for the next 20 years.”
Though not as overflowing as Tim’s Secret Treasures, Main Street Antiques in Monongahela has also been established in a graceful Victorian-era house. In a co-op arrangement, multiple dealers operate under the roof at 800 W. Main St. It was started in 1991 by Inez Gilotty. Her son, Bob Gilotty, explains that he enjoys “helping (customers) buy stuff.”
“We get customers from all over the world,” he adds. “A lot of repeat customers.”
Main Street Antiques specializes in no particular period or type of item, but a recent visit revealed a selection perhaps as varied as Tim’s Secret Treasures, though not as vast. A book detailing the career of French singing legend Maurice Chevalier was uncovered, as well as a campaign hat promoting the Republican gubernatorial ticket of Richard Thornburgh and William Scranton in either 1978 or 1982, and a rotary dial telephone from 1954.
Not far down Main Street from the store is Red Boot Antiques. Founded nine years ago by owner Marcia Homa, she says the store was opened because she has always appreciated antiques and “had too much stuff.”
“There’s a little bit of everything,” she says.
Enthusiasts of antiques might also want to stop at Fleatique on the Mon, which traditionally happens on the first Saturdays in June and October every year. It stretches from New Eagle’s Main Street into Monongahela’s Chess Park, and has food, arts and crafts along with antique sellers. It is sponsored by the Monongahela Chamber of Commerce.
There are other antique shops in the Mon Valley, as well, including Antiques on Broad in Belle Vernon, Junk and Disorderly in Donora, and Pepper Mill Antiques in Scenery Hill. For more information, call the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce at 724-483-3507.