Antique shop to open this month

A Chapple couple has been stocking up on antiques all winter in preparation for the opening of their new business–Mather Creek Antiques and Collectibles–on July 1.
Karl and Sherry VanHeyst will set up shop along Highway 71 about five miles north of the junction of Highway 11. In the meantime, their Mather Road West home is packed with boxes, furniture, and decorations–some of which date back to the early 1700s.
“We’ve probably got about 10,000 items in inventory. We’ve been on a power-buying spree,” Karl VanHeyst said.
“We’ve got two garages full and the whole upper floor is covered. We’ve got little trails all over the house,” his wife added.
The VanHeysts have been in business for more than a year buying and selling antiques on-line. Recently, they shipped a Davenport desk built in the 1700s to a buyer in Nova Scotia, and their collection has garnered attention from antique dealers across the continent.
They don’t plan on putting all of their antiques into the new shop but encourage people to ask if they’re searching for anything in particular.
“We’re not going to have [the store] too cluttered but we do have piles of inventory,” explained Karl.
The VanHeysts have been travelling in search of antiques across North America, hitting destinations as far away as Texas.
“You’d be surprised what you can put on a plane,” he said. “We’ve also been buying estates, everything right down to the carpets.”
With a collection of more than 50 books about antiques and years of buying experience, the VanHeysts have become self-taught experts.
“We research every item we buy. A lot of buying you do on gut instinct. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” she explained.
“It’s our life. We eat and sleep antiques,” added her husband, who also is an employee with the Township of Chapple.
While they will continue with their on-line business, Sherry VanHeyst has given up a full-time nursing career to dedicate her time to the new antique store.
This Saturday, the VanHeysts will host an outdoor flea-market outside the shop, then hold an official opening next Saturday (July 1).
For the first year, the store will be open until the end of September and will re-open a month before Christmas. It will be closed on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.
“We’ve got something for everyone, from Elvis cards to eight-tracks, we have a lot of memorabilia,” she noted.
The list of antique items includes many solid wood dressers, cabinets, vanities, jewellery, toys, tools, and 3,000 books. The VanHeysts are taking advantage of what appears to be a renewed interest in antiques.
“I think that it is the baby-boomers who want things now that they had when they were kids,” he said.
“Like me. I found a doll I had when I was a kid and it was lost 25-30 years ago,” she interjected.