Sheppard Street Antiques Owner Sara Garza
When visiting Sheppard Street Antiques’ new location at 1126 North Boulevard in Scott’s Addition, the old adage, “When one door closes, another opens,” comes to mind.
Back in June, when owner Sara Garza closed the doors on the shop’s original location in Carytown after 20 years, she was discouraged and disappointed. Forced out by Capital One, which plans to open a combo coffee shop/banking center in the building she shared with Secco, she was unsure of the future of her business.
Today, as she opens the doors to customers for the first time on Boulevard, she is thrilled to be “turning over a new leaf."
“At first it was tough leaving Carytown after we were there for so long ... but I’m just ecstatic because I feel like I can sell a lot of things here, not just one-of-a-kind pieces,” she says of relocating to the emerging, urban neighborhood. “The location speaks more to Midcentury. I’m thinking about people who live in the neighborhood in lofts, who live in the Fan close by. It will be a different audience. We get to open our horizons.”
Garza still plans to stock the well-curated collection of classic antique furniture and accessories for which the shop is known. But she’ll add more contemporary, Midcentury and industrial pieces to the mix. “I am very comfortable mixing things because I do it in my own home,” she says.
The shop will also stock a variety of gifts under $20, with a “vintage, nostalgic appeal,” as well as a collection of plants and greenery including handmade boxwood wreaths and arrangements during the holiday season.
The shop inhabits a 100-year-old Mediterranean-style stucco building that has not seen much activity in the past 30 years. Garza first ventured inside when she was helping a former client to sell off a large collection of antiques. “I walked in and I almost died,” she recalls. “It was so raw: no electricity, no plumbing. At the time I wasn't thinking about buying the building, I was thinking about selling antiques.”
When the client died and Garza suddenly found herself searching for a new location for her store, everything fell into place. She purchased the building and renovated it into a retail space. At about 1,200 square feet it is about the same size as the previous location, but a 14-foot ceiling and large storefront windows give it an airy, light feel.
Sheppard Street Antiques is just a few doors down from Whetstone Upholstery and blocks away from Class and Trash’s new neighborhood outpost and Eviction, which specializes in Midcentury wares. “I hope to do a brochure for all of the related shops,” she says. “We did it in Carytown and it was very successful.”
Sheppard Street Antiques is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. The store also will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the holiday season. Visit sheppardstreetantiques.com for more information.
