BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Coleen and Mike Detzel outside their new store.
(Michael E. Keating photo)
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FLORENCE -- Antiques collectors will search endlessly for a certain rocking chair, a particular china pattern or special wooden trunk.
Coleen and Mike Detzel hope many such searches will end at their place when they open their Florence Antique Mall on Aug. 1.
"We found out right now it's a booming business. There's nothing like what we're proposing . . . in this area," said Mrs. Detzel, a decade-long antiques collector.
"This store, when it's up and running, will look just like a Kmart."
Space inside the mall, at 8145 Mall Road, is being subleased to independent dealers of fine antiques and collectibles.
The building, which formerly housed a Swallen's store, will include new and established dealers.
The couple has leased 42,000 square feet, of which about half will be part of the first opening phase.
Because the mall will also provide a full-time sales force, dealers "can go out and do what they love to do, which is look for more stuff," Mr. Detzel said. "We're more than just a landlord."
During the past three years, the Detzels traveled to about 200 other antiques malls nationwide for tips.
More than 50 dealers have committed to showcase their antiques at the mall.
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IF YOU GO
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The Florence Antique Mall will be open six days a week: On the third Sunday of the month between April and October, the mall will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. For information: 371-0600.
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"I'm very excited. This is a fantastic location, just fantastic," said Janice Cantrell, who along with her partner, Jane Giltner, will sell small collectibles. "You couldn't have asked for a better location."
The two women are among several vendors who relocated when Shumway's Antique Mall in Lawrenceburg, Ind., closed earlier this month. The Detzels say the mall will be a big draw because of the number of vendors, the retail location, proximity to Interstates 71 - 75 and the nearby 400 parking spaces.
"It all helps to make it a very pleasant place to come and shop," said Mr. Detzel, who has nearly 20 years of business management experience.
Mrs. Detzel has 10 years of business experience, including in retail sales and as an independent dealer of fine antiques and collectibles locally.
But the couple's business experience is matched by their interest in collecting antiques.
"We're very child-like," Mrs. Detzel said.
Said Mr. Detzel: "We're just as addicted as anybody."
