43 years in biz and still learning
Actually Top Banana Antiques is 19 years old, however many of our dealers have been in biz over 55 years as well as a 21 year old who's been dealing since a teenager.
Over the last few weeks I have made a point of visiting many centres and shops last weekend particularly in Oxfordshire, its amazing how much an Antiques Centre does vary, which when you think we are all selling antiques it would not be that different.
It seems to me we fall into 4 types:-
- The sort of copy cat of the high street (or interiors, or country living magazine). With scents, candles, cards and a strange matt green grey paint over what was a dubious item of often unsaleable brown Victorian furniture given the fleeting chance of a new life with a paint job. Really feeling like Laura Ashley not an antique shop. Sort of place you want to whisper.
- The good quality old fashioned shop, full of fully priced nice quality antiques, these places are becoming fewer, sadly as the buying public doesn't actually want smalls or furniture over priced at 1000-2000gbp how ever good they are.
- The smelly worn out traded out center, dirty and ill presented stock piled high and looking and smelling like a charity shop all be it cheaper than most charity shops.
- Top Banana Antiques Mall, one dealer one room, is room quickly showing each dealers look so if you hate vintage cushions and clothes you can move on to smart brown furniture, or country furniture or art and crafts.
Whatever your bag is. We offer sensibly priced goods, (half our goods go into the antiques trade and a lot into local trade- don't tell anyone). Antiques priced £1 to £8500, and on the whole sensibly priced with a huge choice price and of quality, particularly in glass, where we sell good useful everyday affordable glasses through to fine 18th century collectors glass.
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