Stores that sell the old and older - AZ Daily Star

Quaint shops burst at the hinges with antiques and vintagecollectibles.

Antique shop owners and managers may be ready to buy yourantique, collectible or entire estate - and they are always willingto sell you a thing or two.

Some offer consignment - they'll sell your items and pay youafter they're sold. Others lease areas of their stores to dealers.

The smaller places that aren't part of a cluster of similarstores might be passed over by unseasoned shoppers.

So we've gathered a list of some antique stores, several of whichare off the beaten path. It's not comprehensive, but it's a goodstart to a day of antiquing.

1. The Antique Presidio Inc., 3024 E. Grant Road, 323-1844

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; noon-5 p.m. Sundays

Price range: $1-$1,000

Personality: This consignment store screams vintage - right downto the building itself: chipped green linoleum flooring, peelingwater-stained ceilings. Country music plays in the background. Youmay even find yourself chatting with other patrons about theeclectic inventory while shopping.

What's in store: Set aside extra time to delve into the array ofrare and unusual items: a gramophone with a velvet turntable, an oldpinball machine, antique pie tins or Mammy cookie jars.

2. American Antique Mall, 3130 E. Grant Road, 326-3070

Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m.Sundays

Price range: $2-$2,000

Personality: When neatness and cleanliness count, this is whereyou want to be.

What's in store: On a hot summer day, the air-conditioned comfortof this tidy, bright and neat haunt will be a refuge. Almost 100dealers occupy 7,300 square feet, selling rare books, coincollections, old promotional movie posters and postcards. This mallwas voted a Tucson Favorite by Caliente readers in 2001.

3. Annabell's Attic Inc., 1010 S. Wilmot Road, 571-8400; 3525 N.Campbell Ave. 469-9600

Hours: 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundaysat the Wilmot Road location. And 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays;11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays at the Campbell Avenue store.

Price range: $5-$10,000

Personality: 'Used' just doesn't cut it - 'pre-owned' is moreapt. Well-cared-for pieces are the hallmark of these classy stores.

What's in store: Many of the items are in such exceptionalcondition that you might wonder if they're really pre-owned. Browsethrough the wall-to-wall furniture, much of which could pass fornew; accent pieces; place settings; and patio sets. Our favorite: astorage cabinet that looks like a vintage gasoline pump.

4. Christine's Curiosity Shop and Doll Museum, 4940 E. Speedway,323-0018

Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; closed Sundays

Price range: $2-$5,000

Personality: When asked her age, Christine Olson, the store'sowner, firmly says, '87.' It's the way she answers everything:precise and to the point. Olson has a story about almost everythingin her store and takes pride in her inventory, especially her dollcollection. Her father was a collector, too.

What's in store: A heaping inventory that includes hand-blown andhandmade glass, Waterford crystal, furniture, clocks from the 1700sand 1800s, Hummel figurines and a hefty collection of sterling andplated flatware.

If you're shopping with the kiddos, be careful. There are lots offragile items.

5. Elegant Junque Shop, 4932 E. Speedway, 881-8181

Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; closed Sundays

Price range: 10 cents-$7,500

Personality: With the exception of the walking areas, almost allof the floor space is crammed with merchandise, yet it's well-organized and accessible.

Wayne and Tina Olson own and operate the shop, and there's plentyof history behind the 30-year-old store. Christine Olson, ofChristine's Curiosity Shop and Doll Museum next door, is Wayne'smom. Perhaps that's why there are painted footprints leading fromChristine's storefront to his.

What's in store: This family-owned business isn't a consignmentshop and it doesn't rent out space - the owners are ready to deal.The store specializes in antique and collectible toys, big andsmall, such as the 61/2-foot Ronald McDonald.

Not everything is antique. In true mom-and-pop fashion, some ofthe items are marked with 'not old' tags.

6. Firehouse Antique Center, 6522 E. 22nd. St., 571-1775

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; noon-4 p.m. Sundays

Price range: $1-$1,500

Personality: Pink lace curtains frame the open storefront window;pink, white and mauve paint covers the walls. The shop has an old-fashioned, with-a-woman's-touch feel.

What's in store: Plenty of sports memorabilia, chandeliers,flatware and vintage salt and pepper shakers. If you'd like to pickup where you left off umpteen years ago on 'War and Peace,' wespotted a copy here. Stacks of dishes and ceramics line sectionsleased to dealers.

7. Granny's Antique Mall Inc., 5302 E. 22nd St., No. 140, 748-1383

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; noon-5 p.m. Sundays

Price range: $1-$4,000

Personality: You might think you're at Granny's attic when youenter the maze, loaded with memorabilia, collectibles, vintagekitchen tools and even casino gambling tables. With 26,000 squarefeet of space, Granny's is stroller-friendly for browsing moms.

What's in store: If variety is what you seek, this is the place.Granny's doesn't specialize in anything in particular; it offersbreadth. We found Avon cosmetics displayed with oil lamps andcollectible glass containers.

Plan on staying awhile. Each booth, leased by collectors, mayhave something to catch your eye.

8. Price's Thrift Shop, 505 W. Ajo Way, 295-4465

Hours: Noon-5 p.m.

Mondays-Saturdays

Price range: $1-$1,500

Personality: The 21-year-old Tucson mainstay started on South12th Avenue and has been at its present location 10 years. It looksas if owner Marilyn Melendez set up shop in what used to be a house.

What's in store: The store's specialty is antique wood-burningstoves ($200-$1,500). From the looks of the 'sold' signs stuck onmost of them, they are a hot commodity.

The mix of thrift and antique items includes furniture and toys.Don't be surprised if you spot some of the items later at the GrantRoad antique stores. The owner's daughter, Andriana Melendez, saidthose dealers often buy from the South Side store.

9. Razzle Dazzle, 4247 N. Campbell Ave.

Hours: 323-4544

Price range: $1-$3,500

Personality: When you see the vintage dresses, perfume bottlesand ample selection of jewelry (the owner is a jeweler), you mightthink it's a girly boutique.

You'd be half-right.

This little store is full of antique furnishings, accessories andknickknacks. The floor presentation has a homey feel, with themerchandise arranged to spark ideas on putting items together.

What's in store: Jewelry, including lapis, silver, turquoise,jade and garnet. Vintage dining chairs, bar stools, dishes, dressesand stereos. Owner Cindy Ferris likes to stock items from the '50sand earlier. She says she chose to deal with antiques because 'youdon't see multiples around town. It's more unique.'

You'll find some of her merchandise up for auction on eBay, too.

10. ABC Collectibles, 4034 E. Grant Road, 318-1056

Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; closed Sundays

Price range: $1-$2,000

Personality: It's all about antiques, Beanie Babies andcollectibles, hence the name - ABC.

There's one consignment area (jewelry) at the mom-and-pop shop,in which half of the floor space is dedicated to furniture.

The husband-and-wife owners, Karl and Karen Miller, were bothearning master's degrees when they decided to ditch their studiesfor the antiques and collectibles business. 'It keeps us young,'says Karen, 65.

COUPLE CREATES STORE EVEN A MAN CAN LOVE - The Herald News - Joliet (IL)

Attention wives: there's a new store in town that's filled with crafts, collectibles, Beanie babies and stained glass.Best of all, you can take your husband, and odds are he won't fall asleep.

No, there aren't Lazy Boy recliners planted in front of wide-screened televisions that only show sports channels.

But make no mistake: Ye Olde Trading Post in Lockport isn't just a place for chicks.

'My husband's idea was to have a store that guys can go to,' said Donna Bartosek, who owns the shop on Illinois 171 with her husband, Joe.

'He wanted a gift store for guys.

Men can come in here and be absolutely fascinated.'

He succeeded -- and then some.

The store is filled with antiques and hard-to-come-by items.

'He's been collecting this stuff for 20 years.

It's his dream; he's always wanted to do this,' she said.

'He's just always been able to find stuff no one else has.'

That includes a section devoted to Route 66, to Al Capone, to Ertle brand John Deere tractors with fully workable parts and -- Joe Bartosek's treasure -- some of the Jim Beam railroad car collection that began in 1950. Some cars even have the actual whiskey still inside them.

Next to an antique scale that reads 'Toledo: No Springs -- Honest Scale' is a display case filled with sports memorabilia, including a reproduction of an autographed photo of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig together, as well as a photo of Ty Cobb and Christy Matthews.

There's even an antique rubber football helmet.

If that isn't enough, a room upstairs is devoted solely to baseball memorabilia.

Ye Olde Trading Post, a 9,000-square foot, three-level store set against a woodsy creek,was once a Baptist church.

When the Homer Township couple first planned the store, after years of collecting antiques and storing them in warehouses, Joe Bartosek took stock of his inventory and wondered if he should open a museum.

'He kept saying, `That's not for sale, that's not for sale,' and I said, `This is crazy; you can't have everything not for sale,'' she said.

They compromised.

Most everything is for sale, and if it's not, they'll tell you.

But one thing is for certain -- since they do a lot of buy-outs, things tend to only pass through the store once and quickly.

'There's nothing in here anyone else has, and if they do, we have it for less money,' Donna Bartosek said.

When you walk in, the front parlor is filled with Hummel and Anri collectibles.

Door County coffee sits on the counter, and Door County jams and jellies are next to the Beanie Babies on the opposite wall.

For the obligatory candle line, Donna Bartosek chose St. Johnsbury of Philadelphia. They burn longer, she says.

Some of her favorite items in the store are the hand-crafted carousel horses of all sizes.

Her collection of genuine Tiffany lamps, including two brass ones too heavy for her to even lift, are among her other gems.

There's even Hollywood karma in the place.

Signs used in the movie The Untouchables adorn the first-floor walls, including Shirley's Dance Club, 41st District Police Station, The New Atlantic Nite Club and Hilmer Haus Diner.

To say everything you could imagine is in the story isn't an understatement.

If brass is your thing, it's there.

If you like refinished antique wood cabinets and chests, they've got 'em. Remember Chicago's Riverview Park? Nostalgia buffs will love this display.

There are antique picture frames, farm implements, church pews, lots of home accents and Coca-Cola merchandise galore.

An upstairs room is filled with work from local painters and another is filled with kids' stuff.

'There isn't (anyone) from a baby to a grandparent you couldn't find something for,' Donna Bartosek said.

Ye Olde Trading Shop is at 14929 S. Archer Road. Hours are 10 a.m.-5:30 a.m. Thursday through Saturday and 12 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday (815) 834-4101.

LIZ WILKINSON ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Gurnee Mills welcomes Home Co. Upscale retailer takin place of old Waccamaw store.(Business) - Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Byline: Kim Mikus Daily Herald Business Writer

There's no place like home is a phrase more and more shoppers seem to have on their minds there days.

A new store under construction at Gurnee Mills supports the trend that people are spending more time and money on their homes.

The Home Co. is under construction in the former Waccamaw store at the Lake County mall.

The Home Co. is an upscale retailer that combines manufacturers' galleries with a lifestyle theme featuring 10 to 14 'stores-within- a-store.'

The Gurnee location, expected to open in the spring, will be the first of its kind in Illinois.

More bargains: Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg is holding its annual winter clearance sale through Monday. Shoppers can expect to find all types of savings as retailers think spring.

It's a hit: Collectors of sports memorabilia can find thousands of collectibles at the annual Sports Card and Memorabilia Show at Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles.

It begins Friday and runs through next Sunday. Many items will be available at competitive prices, said Mike Di lacova, event organizer and owner of Triple Play Productions.

Dealers from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas and Wisconsin will participate.

Antiques galore: Randhurst Shopping Center in Mount Prospect is hosting a winter antique and collectible show next week.

The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

The sale will feature a variety of porcelains, pottery, china, jewelry, toys, collector plates, movie memorabilia, Life magazines, coins and more.

Let's get physical: If getting in shape and feeling better was one of your plans beginning in January, you may want to walk to Woodfield. Alexian Brothers Hospital Network is sponsoring the Woodfield Mall Walkers program.

The next meeting takes place at 8 a.m. Friday.

Young shopping fan? Maybe my 2-year-son, Brian, knows what his 1-year-old sister is thinking.

I ventured out last week with the double stroller to return some Christmas gifts. Brian enjoys shopping as long as we stop at his favorite store, Bass Pro Shops at Gurnee Mills. His little blue eyes light up when he sees all the fish swimming in the huge tank.

We were driving home when my daughter, Megan, became tired. She cried for a few minutes before dozing off.

That evening, Brian reminded me that Megan cried. 'Maybe Megan wanted to do more shopping,' he said so innocently.

Who knows? Maybe she did want that cute outfit at Baby Gap.

Number of Baseball Card Stores in Waterbury, Conn., Area Is Shrinking. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Marc Silvestrini, Waterbury Republican-American, Conn. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Aug. 7--There are plenty of things Richard Daponti misses about owning his own baseball card store, but mostly it's the conversation.

Like all those great 'Who was better?' arguments. Mays or Mantle? DiMaggio or Williams?

Or the burning baseball questions of the day: Have they messed up the strike zone enough? Who's the best of the Joneses? Chipper Jones? Andruw Jones? Catherine Zeta-Jones?

'Guys used to come in and just talk baseball. How can you beat that? Just sitting around the store with a couple of buddies talking baseball all day,' says Daponti, who closed Sports Cards & Memorabilia, his Frost Road store in Waterbury, about a year ago. At the time, he'd been in the business for 12 years at various locations in Waterbury and Naugatuck.

Despite the warm, fuzzy memories, Daponti was forced to close his store because of a hard, cold reality: Business, he says, was just too slow and he could no longer meet his overhead.

'There's just too much competition -- the Internet, Kmart, Toys 'R Us, the supermarkets,' he says. 'Too many new products to buy, too many other places for the collector to go and spend his money.'

Like the designated hitter rule, the demise of the friendly neighborhood baseball card store is a pervasive national phenomenon that appears to be here to stay, local store owners say. Increased competition from the Internet and giant retailers, a shrinking number of card collectors and a market that has become glutted with mass-produced yet expensive products have combined to make the stand-alone baseball card store as rare as championship banners at Fenway Park.

Dave Rock of Rock's Sports Cards in Bristol recalls a period in the early '90s when there were at least 15 other baseball card stores within a 20-minute drive of his own, including five apiece in both Bristol and Torrington. Now his is the only one left.

Daponti says there were nine stores operating in Waterbury in 1991. Bob Rzewuski, who owns The Dugout on Main Street in Oakville, says there were at least eight card stores in Greater Waterbury when he first opened his shop in 1992. Right now you would be hard-pressed to find a handful of stores devoted exclusively to baseball cards in the area.

It is difficult to create a definitive list of how many baseball card stores are operating in any given community because stores come and go virtually overnight, and routinely change owners and locations. Many are not listed in phone books or on chamber of commerce rosters and some are better known for a different line of products, like comic books, coins or toys.

'It's kind of a dying business, I guess,' says Ernie Russelli of Ernie's Baseball Cards & Stuff on Main Street in Southbury. 'It's getting harder and harder just to meet your expenses, never mind trying to make a decent living.'

Russelli opened a second store in Naugatuck last fall, but has since sold it. He will soon be closing his Southbury store and moving to Fort Mohave, Ariz., where he plans to open a yet another one. He says two factors have combined to drive most store owners out of business.

'Basically, the guys in this business have lost a ton of customers to the Internet while our expenses have gone through the roof,' he says. 'When you have fewer customers but you're paying five times as much for product as you were when you first opened up, you're definitely going to feel the pinch.'

Rock agrees the rapid growth of the Internet over the past 10 years has been the single biggest factor in the demise of both baseball card stores and the once-ubiquitous baseball card shows. It gives collectors the ability to purchase cards at online auction sites like Ebay and Yahoo -- often for a mere fraction of what they would have paid for the same item in a card store.

'A few years ago there were three or four card shows to choose from within an hour's drive of your home on just about any weekend,' says Rock, who has been in the business for 11 years. 'Nowadays, it's hard to find one.'

Rock says that approximately 40 percent of his business is conducted over the Internet now while Russelli notes that many of the card stores that have gone out of business were operated by a generation of shop owners that had neither the skills nor inclination to surf the Net.

'Most of the guys who were doing this were unable to adjust when the business changed and went high-tech on them,' Russelli says.

Another problem, Rock and Rzewuski say, is the rapidly disappearing baseball card collector.

'I think the card manufacturers have turned a lot of people off over the years by producing too many sets and too many cards and making things way too expensive for the average card collector,' Rzewuski says.

Back in the late '70s and early '80s, huge numbers of male Baby Boomers discovered that the hobby of their youth had suddenly become respectable enough to pursue as an adult. At that time, there were only three card manufacturers producing one annual set of cards apiece, Russelli explains. Then the number of manufacturers ballooned to six or seven, and each one of them started producing four or five different sets a year.

'Pretty soon it got ridiculous,' he says. 'All of a sudden there was something like a hundred sets being produced every year. And that's not even counting the other sports, like football and basketball.'

And it didn't help matters that while producing more cards than the market could absorb, manufacturers also began producing cards that were far too pricy for even adult collectors.

'Let's face it,' Rock asks, 'how many people can afford to pay $10 for a single pack of four or five baseball cards? Or $50 or $60 for a baseball card that just came out last week?'

Rising prices hit store owners just as hard. Russelli says at least one, and possibly two or three new baseball card sets are released every week from Christmas through early November.

'When I opened my first store (in 1978 in Chicago), I was spending maybe $1,000 to $1,500 for product every week,' says Russelli. 'Now, in order to assure yourself of getting a good cross-section of product, you're going to have to spend maybe four to five times as much.'

One last factor that has driven many collectors out of the hobby is the common perception that today's professional baseball player is an arrogant and greedy mercenary without the bandoleer. The feeling intensified during the infamous baseball strike of 1994 when the franchise owners, who many believe are equally arrogant and greedy, canceled the playoffs and World Series.

'Let's face it, that strike in '94 really killed us,' Rzewuski says. 'I think a lot of people got turned off back then and just never came back to the hobby.'

To see more of the Waterbury Republican-American, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.rep-am.com

(c) 2001, Waterbury Republican-American, Conn. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

Von Maur to give Charlestown Mall a new look Officials hoping anchor store will open by holidays.(Business) - Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Byline: Kim Mikus Daily Herald Business Writer

Charlestowne Mall officials are hoping the center will have a new look for next year's holiday season.

For now, the folks at the mall have only sketches of how the newest anchor, Von Maur, will look when it takes over the J.C. Penney space at the St. Charles center.

The 102,500-square-foot anchor store is expected to open by the spring of 2002, but community and mall officials are hoping it could open in time for the holidays later this year.

Officials also hope the upscale anchor will continue to bring in additional upscale shops, such as Abercrombie & Fitch and other names.

Eddie Bauer opened a store in the mall this year. That deal was negotiated after officials announced they were in negotiation with Davenport, Iowa-based Von Maur.

More on Von Maur: Here are a few facts about upscale retailer Von Maur:

- Von Maur Inc. is a fourth-generation, family owned company.

- The retailer has annual sales of more than $300 million.

- It's the largest privately held department store in Iowa.

- In 1994, the retailer expanded outside Iowa when it opened a store at Yorktown Center in Lombard.

- In the near future, the retailer plans to open stores in Minnesota and Kansas.

Bargain hunting: Now that the holidays are over, many Spring Hill Mall stores are beginning to thin their winter and seasonal merchandise.

An annual five-day sidewalk sale begins Thursday.

Participating stores will have special values on a wide variety of merchandise. Shoppers can expect to see up to 75 percent off on favorite seasonal merchandise such as sportswear, shoes and outdoor gear.

Wiggle it: Children should have fun at Barnes & Noble in Deer Park on Jan. 13.

Children's entertainer Michelle Hunter will perform 'Wiggle, Jiggle & Sing' with young children at 11 a.m. at the store on Rand Road in Deer Park.

Hunter plans to introduce the joy of music to the very young during the event.

Rubies are red: Mark Valentine's Day as the next big spending holiday.

For the shopper working ahead, Tiffany & Co. has something new this year. Elsa Peretti, exclusive designer for Tiffany, has incorporated rubies onto one of her most celebrated designs, Diamonds By the Yard.

The motif gives rubies a fashionable edge, according to company officials. The set includes a necklace with rubies and diamonds, bracelet with rubies set in 18-karat gold and earrings in 18-karat gold and platinum.

If you're looking for the gift for your sweetheart, Tiffany stores are located at Oakbrook Center and Old Orchard Center in Skokie.

Quite a collection: Collectors of baseball cards and memorabilia can find thousands of collectibles at the 21st annual Sports Card and Memorabilia Show that starts Friday at Charlestowne Mall.

More than 100 vendor tables will hold treasures ranging from game-used and team approved baseball jerseys to autographed bats, hats, ticket stubs and pins of favorite long ago players.

Baseball cards dating from 1900 to the present will allow hobbyists to add new and unusual pieces to their collections.

In addition to sports, other hot items at the show include Pokeman trading cards and Coca-Cola and McDonald's memorabilia.

Ghost town: Lakehurst Mall in Waukegan is looking pretty deserted.

Things should get worse by the end of the month.

Carson Pirie Scott & Co. will be the sole business at the long- struggling mall by then.

About six remaining businesses including a hair salon and optical shop received certified letters stating they must vacate the property. City officials are looking for other uses for the property.

COLLECTIBLE STORE OWNER TURNS HOBBY INTO BUSINESS - The Herald News - Joliet (IL)

If you're in the market for an old Superman comic or a first-season Michael Jordan action figure, there's a store in downtown Joliet for you.Galaxy Cards, Comics and Collectibles recently opened at 151 N. Ottawa St. under owner Dan Pfeifer.

He runs a Galaxy shop in Naperville near the Fox Valley Mall, and decided to expand when he noticed he had customers coming in from Will and Grundy counties.

'Downtown Joliet's a pretty cool place,' he said.

'I'm originally from Aurora, so I can relate to the older cities.

When I started looking, this place attracted my attention immediately.'

The corner-shop, brick-front exterior attracted him, as did a local grant program for new businesses.

He decided to start looking in May, by June he had the property, and on July 10 he opened for business.

A former manager of a multi-million dollar retail store and collector since age 5, he realized he was either going to have to start a business or buy a new house.

'It's something I love doing,' he said.

'I've got a basement, a garage and an attic full of stuff I've collected over the years.

My theme is, `Relive your childhood.' When you walk in, I want people to go, `Wow, this is stuff I had as a kid.' I pride myself on having things for the young and for the young at heart.'

His personal collection of comic books, superhero figurines and sports memorabilia spurred him to leave the corporate life in favor of making his hobby his livelihood.

Galaxy offers a little of everything to collectors: supplies for collecting, displays of sports cards -- single player cards and packs; a wall of comic books, new and old with back issues available; various sizes of action figures; and 'all the gaming stuff.'

'Magic: The Gathering is the fasting-growing card game in North America,' he said.

'We have a big tournament at the Naperville store; we'll get 20 to 30 people in on Friday and Saturday nights.

It's got a big following.'

His plan is to turn Galaxy's back room, with its high ceilings and wood floors, into a full-time gaming room.

Now, it's used for Saturday afternoon Pokemon tournaments.

Joliet has a big sports following, and sports memorabilia sells well, as do the comics, he said.

Anything that has to do with Pokemon or WWF Wrestling flies off the shelves, he said.

Although he's only been open a month, Pfeifer said he's been amazed at the number of customers his store is attracting.

'Business has been incredible so far,' he said.

'You've got to anticipate that for the first five to eight months you won't see a profit, but we've far exceeded my expectations.

There's been a lot of repeat business and a lot of word of mouth.'

Galaxy has free parking in the back, so there's no need to worry about feeding the meters.

Pfeifer has discovered that being downtown, away from the commercial west side, is a bonus for him.

'The most common thing I hear is, `I'm glad you're down here,'' he said. 'I've been telling people this is the time for Mom-and-Pop stores to come alive.

If you have a unique business and you're not competing with anyone, this is your kind of downtown.'

His only wish is that more downtown businesses would stay open later.

With dockside gambling available and a hotel opening soon, he pointed out that businesses would benefit from longer hours, when boat-goers would need a change of scenery.

'I'm pretty confident there's gambling after 3:30 in the afternoon,' he said.

Galaxy Cards, Comics and Collectibles, (815) 726-8783, is on the Internet at www.glaxaycards.com. The store is at 151 N. Ottawa St. and store hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

NikeTown: miracle on 57th Street.(NikeTown store, New York, NY) - Footwear News

This is not just retailing. This is Hollywood, Broadway and the Silicon Valley all meshed together in a breathtaking, five-floor, 66,500-square-foot selling space. It is merchandising for the new millennium. While the rest of us still are toiling away in the dusk of the 20th century, Nike has jumped ahead to the 23rd or 24th.

Landlord Donald Trump said, 'I think they've built the greatest retail establishment I've ever seen!'

The newly opened NikeTown is a monument to what footwear retailing can and should be: With touches of computerization, virtual reality and sports memorabilia, as well as heavy doses of excitement and drama, it's the antithesis of the dull, everyday shopping experience.

For example, since when is getting your foot sized supposed to be fun? With Nike's revolutionary new 'NGAGE' digital sizing system, the time-worn Brannock devices have been tossed away with yesterday's newspapers.

Need to know your shoe size? Step on up to one of the cutting-edge, interactive computer measuring systems that gauge all aspects of your feet and project their outline electronically on a display screen before you. It's foot measuring, but it's also entertainment.

It makes you want to buy a new pair of shoes just to be sized again. And all the data collected daily on each consumer is fed directly into Nike's advanced research facility in Beaverton, Ore., leading to further knowledge of sizing and widths.

And when you want to take a break from shopping shoes, activewear, hats, etc., roam around the display of sports memorabilia. How about checking out the Stanley Cup, Super Bowl trophies, the array of legendary player awards and plaques? This isn't just a shoe store; this is as good as Cooperstown! And then there's Michael Jordan's uniform displayed under a protective shield and Yankee hero Derek Jeter's bat fresh from the World Series. If you want to watch video bios of some of the world's greatest athletes, just push a button.

When it comes to visual display, Nike is leading the pack. A few weeks ago in ThinkPiece, I advocated that retailers consider experimenting with CD-ROMS to graphically display pertinent information about footwear materials and components. I didn't realize Nike already was way ahead of me.

The new NikeTown features animated visual displays extolling the virtues of the various waterproof or airproof fibers and textiles featured in Nike apparel and footwear. It makes their message easy to understand and enticing as well.

And when you need personal assistance, there's a sales associate on the scene in moments. (Since when do sales clerks smile profusely and eagerly ask how you are and if you need help?)

But maybe most impressive is that the 450-person staff, gathered from across the world, gives global marketing a new meaning. Speak Italian? Chinese? German? You'll have no problem here. This is the true global village. Except its economy is based on footwear, not gold.

In fact, when I went back the morning of the New York Marathon, announcements over the public address system were in Japanese.

Want a little diversion and entertainment? Every 20 minutes the store's atrium 'morphs,' or architecturally metamorphosizes, into a colossal entertainment center. The lights dim, an enormous 36-by-22-foot screen gracefully glides down, and shoppers are treated to a pulsating, computer-generated sports and action video fed by six projectors. 'Amazing, isn't it?' whispered former British royal Princess Sarah Ferguson, after witnessing the show opening night.

For three minutes, the audience is bonded by the thrill of sports. This is retailing from a TV dream sequence -- except this time it's for real.

NikeTown also offers sports nuts the ultimate virtual-reality experience. By peering through a dual-eyed scope, the kind used at the top of the Empire State Building, one suddenly is rollerblading through traffic on the streets of Manhattan, or motor biking through ruts and hills. With the video clips of famous runners, shoppers can experience the thrill of the New York Marathon. With the array of sports memorabilia, they can smack a home run in the sixth game of the World Series.... It's the essence of sports and the ultimate American fantasy, capturing the thrill of competition and victory.

Now some competitors may critically say it's all fluff; that the hype takes away the momentum of the merchandise. But what is retailing's true obligation today? Just to sell merchandise?

Well, when I need stuff, I can buy it at home through a pile of catalogs or electronically through the Internet or TV. Retailing in the '90s is supposed to make me smile, bring me into a store, make me feel good about myself and look forward to making a purchase. And most important, make me want to come back to the store again soon. NikeTown makes you want to come back the moment you walk in the front door.

It's a visual catalog, a massive department store for the sports fanatic. Need fun kids merchandise? Take the giant escalators up to the fourth floor and turn right. Want fashion and lifestyle apparel? Head straight. Looking for hats, bags and shirts? Third floor, near the front. The store is a temple of sports merchandise and items: jackets, shirts, socks -- and shoes, shoes everywhere.

And boy, do they know how to display those shoes. The average footwear store slaps products on plain shelves or slat boards. At NikeTown, the shoes are stars in their own mini-theaters. They're exhibited in see-through, circular tubes, angled to show the sole, heel and toe. And they spin continuously, showing every detail in 360 degrees of exposure.

Stroll into NikeTown off 57th Street and you're not just a consumer -- you are suddenly a sports fan, a tourist, a participant. You see, you feel, you touch. When you view memories of the late Steve Prefontaine, one of the world's great runners who was cut down in his prime, you may even shed a tear.

What Gordon Thompson, Nike vice president of design, and John Hoke, image design creative director, have pieced together could be studied in university design and architecture classes. It's the spirits of George Jetson, Cecil DeMille and Frank Lloyd Wright all mixed together.

At NikeTown, buying footwear isn't a chore like at some stores. It's an experience -- a marriage of science, athletics and show biz.

On a personal level, NikeTown's opening was a true pleasure for me. I got to shake hands with Olympic great Carl Lewis and footwear legend Phil Knight, two of my heros, in the same evening.

The store's inscribed mission states: 'Teamwork, honor, courage, victory.' Not a bad philosophy to live by.