Museum and art galleries are still closed, due to COVID-19 – but lovers of the antique, the unusual and the exquisite can now enjoy the next best thing, with a trip to Roadshow Antiques North.
The 32,000 sq. ft. warehouse, adjacent to The 400 Market, houses approximately 200 vendor spaces – independent dealers who rent one or more booths for their antiques, collectibles and memorabilia.
Items range from antique furniture to vintage jewellery and clothing, Inuit artwork to antique books and prints, records and the collectibles of the ‘50s and ‘60s, to Chinese vases dating back centuries.
And when the doors reopened on June 15, shoppers were eager to come out and browse.
“It’s been actually busy, because people want to get out,” said appraiser and antiques expert Dave Downie. “They are so tired of being cooped up.”
The antique market opened on a Monday, “and it was like a Saturday – it was that busy,” he said.
That doesn’t mean that there were crowds. Roadshow Antiques North is taking every precaution to ensure that safety is the number one priority.
Because of the size of the building, up to 90 people can be inside at any one time. The doors are open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 daily – and a staff member sits at the door, keeping count, providing a squirt of hand-sanitizer, and handing out facemasks to those who didn’t bring their own.
Staff are all equipped with face shields and hand sanitizer, and a plastic screen at the cash register provides a level of separation.
“We’re trying to do things right because we want to keep people safe,” said Downie. “They’re our antiques family.”
People have been responsive, appreciating the effort and following the rules, he said. “Most people are respectful. They’re using face masks or shields, hand-sanitizing, social distancing.”
And in appreciation, many of the vendors have cut the prices on their inventory, welcoming back shoppers with sales: at one booth, 50 percent off books; at others, 25 percent off furniture, a 30 percent “Reopening Sale,” a 20 percent ‘New Normal’ Sale.
Roadshow Antiques has also brought back its online auctions. “The first one in a while” was held June 11-15, said Downie, with successful bidders coming by on Wednesday to pick up their items at curbside.
It was the sort of contact-free commerce that people are getting used to in these COVID-19 days, but “with a little more personal service,” he said.
That service includes chatting about the antiques and the current market, and helping shoppers find specific items in the vast antique mall – a rare recording, a Lalique vase, vintage jewellery – all while social distancing.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, back in March, owners Henry and Jackie Jones immediately shut the doors of Roadshow Antiques North, advising staff to stay home and stay safe.
It was Downie’s first layoff, first R.O.E., first time applying for assistance – and it was a little overwhelming, he said, admitting to needing help to navigate the application process.
Now, Downie says, while he was grateful for the emergency assistance, he’s happier still to be back at Roadshow Antiques North with his “antiques family.”
Roadshow Antiques North is located at 2207 Industrial Park Rd. in Innisfil, near Hwy. 400 and just north of Innisfil Beach Road. For more information, click here.
Jones also operates a second location, Roadshow Antiques South in Pickering – a 22,000 sq. ft. mall with over 175 vendors.
Originally from Staffordshire, England – famous for its antiques and crafts – Jones came to Canada in 1970 to make a career in antiques, and launched the Roadshow Antiques franchise in 1995.