The Antique Gallery • Round Rock

The Antique Gallery • Round Rock

By Christi Covington Friday, 06 March 2009

More than 100 dealers sell items at largest antique venue in the area

Despite the challenges of the economy, antique shopping is still a timeless art, said Kathie Barber, The Antique Gallery manager.

“There is always the search, always the hunt,” she said. “Everyone enjoys seeing what they can find.”

Since the 1990s, The Antique Gallery in Round Rock has provided space for 100 dealers, mostly local, who fill their booths with everything from Coca-Cola signs to unusual light fixtures. It is the largest antique venue in the community.

Barber said more and more people have turned to antiques and vintage items for a good buy. Some shoppers consider it part of living a “green” lifestyle to purchase reused furniture versus getting something newly manufactured. Others appreciate the chance to make an investment, choosing items that will either maintain or increase in value as time passes.

“We have such a variety,” she said. “Some of it even I have never heard of.”

Barber, who manages the store for owner Stephen Plyler, started as a vendor in 1999 before joining the staff two years ago. She oversees the store’s policy of requiring at least 80 percent authentic antique or vintage wares. Antiques are at least 100 years old, while vintage items were made by the 1970s or earlier, Barber said.

Vendors lease space, pay a commission for sales and are responsible for maintaining their booths. They travel all over the state to auctions or estate sales, although they do not usually disclose their sources, keeping the knowledge as a trade secret.

“They might go to five auctions and 10 estate sales before they find something they can market,” Barber said. “It’s hard work.”

Once purchased, items must be cleaned and possibly repaired. Typically, Barber sees a trend in the dealers who attend to their spaces regularly and higher sales, an incentive which leaves their store clean and regularly updated.

Although the store features items in a wide price range, rare finds are what attract the imagination of many buyers, Barber said. Two large, solid marble lions, priced at $38,000 each, sit in one corner of the store. They are so unusual they might get sent to Sotheby’s, the famous auction house in New York.

The dealers can usually gauge the value of what they are selling, but now and then something slips by them. That leaves the opportunity for a buyer to discover something special.

“It’s like winning the lottery when they do,” Barber said. “It does not happen very often, but sometimes it does. That’s what everyone is looking for.”

The Antique Gallery, 1601 S. IH 35, Ste. 400, 218-4290, www.antiquegalleryroundrock.com