Madison's Odana Antique Mall Gets It Right

So many antique malls and centers these days DON'T get it right--I am happy to be part of a shop that DOES get it right.

Since February, Dear Husbola and I have had a small space at the Odana Antique Mall on Odana Road on the west side of Madison Wisconsin.  We have had our eye on this shop for several years--and this year was the time to pursue a space--and happily--a small space became available this winter.

This shop gets it right.  The building is a large former furniture store on a busy road.  The shop is owned and managed by women.  Enough said.  They get it.

The shop is carpeted and well lit.  There is spot lighting throughout and can lights that allow the goods to be viewed in a more home light glow--not like a surgical theater.  There are no huge rows of locked cases.  Cases are sprinkled throughout--and dealers can have them in their booths if they wish.  The shopper's eyes do not glaze over with rows and rows of them.  We think the trend is booths without cases--so we have chosen not to have any in our booth.

The shop owner and key staff Sue, Sharon and Amy work hard at making eye catching attractive displays at the front of the shop as you walk in.  With permission, they pull items from dealer's booths, and create bright seasonal or themed displays that frequently change.

The air conditioning works and the music is upbeat and sometimes quirky and NOT intrusive. Plenty of parking.  Easy to find. (off the beltline between Whitney Way and Gammon Road on Odana Road)  Good and good again.

The collection of dealers is varied--there are antiques and vintage that goes from 19th century to mid 20th century.  You can find a $1.00 postcard or a fabulous victorian cast iron garden bench for over $1000.  The furniture throughout is country to victorian finished to shabby from garden to books to lighting to arts and crafts to industrial.

We do have a horrible problem there.  When we come up to stock our space--we have sold items as we are unpacking, and well as the next day.  OH DEAR.  What this means is TRAFFIC.  And buying traffic.  We love it.  Our booth  today has everything from artwork to garden  to a fabulous library standing globe to folk art furniture-to lodge look items-and from cottage look to finished.  We love the ecclectic look and it sells well for us.

Well run shops are hard to find these days.  Shops dedicated to keeping up standards and filling dealers vacancies quickly and promoting themselves are rare.  Make a trip to Odana--you will not be disappointed.