Salisbury Township Collects Antique Dealers

Salisbury Township just may be the antique capital of the Lehigh Valley, if judged by the number of dealers doing business here.

The Weil Antique Center, at SW 31st and Lehigh streets, is home to about 150 antique dealers, each with their own nook in a former warehouse. The newest addition is in the South Mall, a block away on Lehigh Street. It houses 135 dealers in a large, open retail space.

Both locations offer a vast variety of antique, vintage, and collectible items, from tiny trinkets to titanic-size boat anchors, from kitsch to classic. At both locations, dealers rent their spaces for $225 per month, and a central, full-time cashier handles all sales.

The eight-year-old Weil Antique Center is owned by Cindy and Rick Weil, who also operate Weil Clocks, where they sell and repair clocks, including grandfather clocks. They previously were in the Parkway Shopping Center, a few blocks to the east on Lehigh Street.

“We were always into antique clocks, so we just kind of branched out into everything else,” says Cindy Weil. “The people who set up booths here are very diverse. They collect and sell all kinds of things. We have jewelry, estate jewelry, coins, toys, and a whole booth of post cards – pretty much everything.”

Especially popular in these days of thrift is the antique furniture selection at Weil. “Antique furniture is good furniture. It’s well-made,” says Weil. “Furniture from the 30s, 40s and 50s will probably last a lot longer than things made today, and it’s probably going to increase in value.”

The Weil Center will get even more eclectic April 2 when a weekend flea market opens for the season in the parking lot. “We rent 75 tables, and last summer, I think we sold out every weekend,” says Teri Miller, long-time Weil employee.

Black Rose Antiques opened in South Mall in 2009 after the Steve and Barry’s athletic clothing store went bankrupt, leaving a 49,000 square-foot vacancy. Initially operating with 70 vendors, within two weeks Black Rose had a waiting list of 80 more.

The antique operation has a two-fold effect for the mall, says Colette Weir, South Mall manager. “It’s an extra experience for our traditional shoppers, and as an antique center destination, it also brings in those shoppers to other South Mall stores.”

South Mall’s Black Rose location is one of three in Pennsylvania. The first opened in York County in 1997 after a Kmart store moved out of  North Hanover Mall. “We are in a rural hub, where dealers have an opportunity to replenish their goods with local estate sales,” says Barb Sipling, who established the first Black Rose. She’s now director of antique mall operations for Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns the malls where they are located.

“When we have a vacancy, we are making a negative go positive by creating an opportunity for small businesses to show their wares, and bringing footsteps into the mall,” adds Sipling.

The third Black Rose is in Washington Crown Center Mall near Pittsburgh, and two more Black Rose antique centers are expected to open later this year: one in Plymouth Meeting in Montgomery County, and one in the Phillipsburg Mall in New Jersey.

“The more variety and the more to choose from, the better off antique malls do,” says Dan McQuade, a developer of antiquemalls.com, a Website that lists antique malls nationwide.

Need more antique centers? The Lehigh Valley is home to several others, including Merchants Square Mall in Allentown, two Cottage Crafters in South Whitehall Township and Easton and the Zionsville Antique Mall.