Tom Smith's new downtown business, Depot Antique & Toys, will be a success if the majority of local shoppers are anything like him. And he suspects most people who browse the “eclectic mix” of collectibles will be.
After all, he can't be the only person who goes antique shopping with specific items in mind – only to inevitably leave with armloads of everything but.
“I usually do (go in with a plan),” Smith said. “But I never come out with what I went in there for.”
That's the likely experience at Smith's North Main Street shop, unless, of course, your shopping list specifically includes vintage Polaroid cameras, nautical lanterns from the 19th century, a silverware set used by the Navy and all the Lionel trains and Matchbox cars you can squeeze into a retro lunchbox.
There's likely something for everybody here, as the store features thousands of items, including booths from about 15 different vendors and countless pieces from Smith's own collection.
“When I decided to do this, I wanted to have unusual stuff in here,” Smith said. “I know it when I see it if something would make a good addition to the store. That's what people want, they want to see something unique.”
Smith is no rookie to the antique business. He opened his first store in Manchester more than 20 years ago and ran it until 2005, and he recently operated his own store in Laconia before managing a friend's larger group store.
But he moved to Concord because of what he called the “vitality” of downtown and a friendly approach to new business from the city, something he said was sorely missing in Laconia.
“I chose Concord because I really think it's got an awesome downtown, It's busy, and there's a great mix of shops,” Smith said. “And this city works with businesses. They are very pro business here.”
The business Smith is in can be fickle. Store owners must stay ahead of trends that change rapidly, and if you are one of the hundreds of people with sizeable collections of now-worthless Hummel figurines in your hope chest, you know exactly what he's talking about.
But the uncertainty can spark just as much excitement and anticipation, particularly when Smith gasses up the jalopy for a weekend of hunting for, well, whatever he comes across.
“I just get in the truck and go,” he said. “You never know what you're going to find.”
What he does find, though, he studies. Most antique and collectible items come with a story, be it historic or nostalgiac in nature, and it's important to learn as much as possible in order to pass the information along to the future owner.
One of the biggest draws in Smith's store is the collection of trains and train items. Smith has long been a Lionel train aficionado, accumulating so many items over the years that he decided to open his first store in Manchester.
Depot Antiques & Toys features an entire room dedicated to trains and other models, including a vast selection of train cars, track parts, and things like scenery and smoke-generating equipment.
Although it was eventually the impetus to go into business, Smith's relationship with Lionel trains began humbly over the holidays one year.
“That's what started the whole thing, a loop of Lionel trains under the Christmas tree,” Smith said. “One year later I didn't want to take it apart, so I built a table in the basement. I eventually had hundreds of Lionel trains, so I opened up a store. And it went from trains to vintage toys to antiques.”
That interest in antiques certainly helped populate the store. There are dozens of vintage furniture items and other decorations, and it's no accident that Smith prefers to furnish his operation that way.
“It's the perfect answer to recycling,” he said of antique furniture. “Why go out and buy some piece of furniture with particle board and laminate that won't last three years when you can come here and get a beautiful piece of furniture that's handmade and will last another 100 years?
Of course, Smith is an antique lover at heart, and there are certain items he won't sell, including a train schedule from an old depot. Even as a business owner, some items simply hold too much meaning (although Smith was once swayed to sell an “untouchable” item when an unrelenting customer raised his offer from $100 to $1,000 over several persistent months).
Similarly, many of Smith's customers enter to browse and leave having triggered a childhood memory, which is fitting given that it was a gift from Santa that started Smith down the road he's on now, anyway.
“So many people come in and look and say, 'When I was a kid, I had this and that and this,' ” Smith said. “It's a lot of a nostalgia trip coming in here.”
