Thursday, March 11, 1999
National chain plans antiques mall in Tricounty
BY RANDY McNUTT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
UNION TOWNSHIP — The Brass Armadillo, a chain of five large antiques and collectibles malls, will open a mall on Crescentville Road by early summer.
The company has leased the former Sam's Wholesale Club store just east of Ohio 747.
The local Brass Armadillo will offer 600 booths and 600 cases for antiques in 105,000 square feet.
The company promotes itself as the nation's fastest-growing chain of antiques malls, located on or near major interstates. Local competitors will be the many small antiques shops and independently owned antiques malls in the region, including two major ones in Springfield and the antiques towns of Lebanon and Waynesville in Warren County.
In Warren County, Lebanon offers at least 30 antiques and specialty shops; Waynesville has 70 shops. With no significant industry and few commercial businesses, Waynesville — the self-proclaimed Antiques Capital of the Midwest — relies on more than 600,000 visitors each year to drive its economy.
Obviously, antiques are big business these days.
The Brass Armadillo, based in Ankeny, Iowa, has signed a $2.4 million contract to rent the building through 2007, said John Thompson, senior vice president of retail properties for the Everest Group, a Cincinnati real estate company.
The company operates malls in Des Moines, Iowa; Omaha, Neb.; Kansas City, Mo.; Phoenix; and Denver. The local operation is the Brass Armadillo's first venture in this area.
Company executives were unavailable for comment Wednesday. But according to the firm's Web site, the Des Moines mall offers more than 450 antiques and collectible dealers under one roof and an eclectic mix — from antique furniture to Star Wars items.
“We think they'll do very well there,” Mr. Thompson said. “It will be the biggest antique mall in the Tristate.”
The mall will also be the
largest in the chain, Mr. Thompson said.
That doesn't bother Joan Townsend, owner of Oh Suzanna in Lebanon. She sells old quilts and related items.
“People who like to go antiquing are addicts,” she said. “I don't see the new store as a problem for Lebanon. It's not like two giant computer stores near each other. We don't compete for customers. They like to go in as many antiques shops as possible because each one has its own unique items.”
Bill Stubbs, owner of Waynesville's Little Red Shed Antiques, said he doesn't anticipate any harm from a large antiques mall.
“They promote a different kind of buying experience,” he said. “Here, people come looking to visit the town. They know if they buy something, the shop owner probably will know something about it. The malls are much larger, of course. A lot of them have opened, and Waynesville is still doing well. The more the merrier, I say.”
According to the company, an estimated 80 million collectors live in this country. Seventy-seven percent range from 20 to 50 years old, and 46 percent are baby boomers.
The company will offer shoppers the option of buying online from the new mall. Its merchandise will include political buttons, coins, tapestries, farm implements, primitive tools, stoneware, comic books, clothing, quilts, depression glass, vintage fountain pens and cutlery.
In choosing the Cincinnati area, the company wanted a region with an above-average median income. About 40 percent of the Cincinnati area's population falls into the Brass Armadillo's target audience of 25- to 55-year-olds, Mr. Thompson said.
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