Owners of antique mall look back at 20 years in business

by Kelley Chambers
The Journal Record June 11, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY – When Bill and Denny McConnell became the managers of the May Antique Mall in 1989, they put everything on the line.

In the late 1980s, Bill McConnell lost his job of 13 years when Lee Way Motor Freight closed. The McConnells were just making ends meet by doing odd jobs and getting additional income from rental properties they purchased during better times.

Opportunity knocked when the previous owner of the former May Antique Mall was looking for new managers. A friend of the McConnells suggested the owner give the couple a call.

The McConnells were prime candidates to run the store – they had a love for antiques, and they were broke.

But the McConnells did not want to get involved with the store unless they could have a future ownership stake. The store at NW 15th Street and May Avenue was in an old movie theater and owned by a man named Bill Howard, who was looking to eventually sell the business.

"We asked him 'is there anyplace to go with this or will we always be the managers of the May Antique Mall,'" Bill McConnell said. "He said, 'if you work out and you build the business,' he'd sell it to us in two years."

The store did prove a success and the McConnells scraped together about $23,000 to buy the business from Howard in 1991. The purchase was financed through the sale of their remaining rental houses. When the deal was done, they had the business, but only about $300 in their pockets.

"When we bought this we were poor," Bill McConnell said. "We sold those last few rental houses and we had struggled for several years, especially after the oil bust."

Over the next eight years, the couple built the business and added vendors. Bill McConnell said there were several lean years, but there always was enough business to keep the lights on.

In 1997, they wanted to move the business and eyed an old cafeteria, 3023 NW 23rd St., as a future home for their antique mall. The couple decided to buy and renovated the 11,000-square-foot space, so they moved the store and renamed it the 23rd Street Antique Mall.

During renovations, the couple went three months with no income, but when they reopened, their existing vendors, as well as some new vendors, filled the available space.

The store now has 70 vendors, several who have been with the McConnells since their days on May Avenue.

Denny McConnell said antique shoppers still come through the doors even though many are watching their wallets. She said if buyers were not purchasing the items, her vendors would simply pack up and go, which has not happened yet. So far this year, the McConnells have not lost any vendors because of the economy.

This summer they are celebrating 20 years in the antique business, even as other antique stores have closed their doors. Antique shops also are seeing an influx of people looking for extra income by selling items on consignment.

The down economy has brought more people to the McConnells' door looking to make ends meet by cleaning out their closets for extra cash.

One option the McConnells offer is to sell select antique items on consignment. Since last fall, Denny McConnell has seen a drastic increase in people coming in looking to sell items on consignment. But she still is very choosy about what makes it onto the showroom floor.

"Unfortunately a lot of the stuff that people bring in is just junk," she said.

Denny McConnell said they have stayed true to only selling antiques mainly from the 1870s to the 1940s. She has resisted the urge to allow people to bring in cheaper items or novelty items and has stayed focused on high-end antiques and antique jewelry.

Cindy Scardino, owner of Apple Orchard Antique Mall, 2921 NW 10th St., has about 40 vendors, and has had an increase in people looking to sell on consignment – an option the store does not offer. Prior to this year, she rarely had anyone looking to sell items on consignment.

"I have somebody ask me every day if we do consignment," she said. "I just don't have the space."

Scardino has seen some of her vendors cut prices, but so far has not had any pack up and go.

"We're holding our own, but everyone's complaining about the economy," she said. "It has been slow this year."

Chad Autry, a marketing professor at the Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University, said with less discretionary income from consumers, many specialty retailers are seeing a dip in business.

"It's hard to be a mom-and-pop business right now," he said. "It's especially tough to be a mom-and-pop specialty retailer right now."

Autry said that the small specialty retailers that are faring better than other retailers are those with name recognition, those who know their market and their customers and are streamlining their goods to include only the best-selling and most popular items.

And even as other large antique stores have folded, Denny McConnell said she does not believe those closed for economic reasons.

Two of the larger stores that have closed are Spivey's Fine Used Furniture and Antiques, and the May Antique Center Mall, which was in the McConnells' former space on May Avenue.

"Many of the stores that have closed are because the owners wanted to retire," she said.

Long gone are the days when the McConnells rode around in a beaten-up Ford van they called the Old Gray Mare, but they have not forgotten the long road to building their business.

Now they plan to keep the store running and unlock the doors every day to do business and sell antiques for their vendors.

"We're here every day but Sunday selling their things for them," Bill McConnell said.