As soon as you enter the Austin Antique Mall, it’s a treasure hunt. Each corner turned reveals a seemingly endless collection of old knick knacks and antiques displayed within cubicles. A wide variety of vintage clothing, jewelry, furniture and artwork from different vendors fills shelves and covers walls, making each booth a new and unique experience.
The antique mall serves as a place of adventure and nostalgia; it’s been home to many of Austin’s antique dealers and collectors over the years.
This year, the Austin Antique Mall would have turned 40 years old. Now, it faces impending closure next month, with its final day of sales being May 15. This gave many of its long-time dealers only 3 months to sell out, pack up and leave.
One dealer, Sandra McQuade, has sold at the antique mall for the past 10 years. Her business, Lonewolf Trading, provides shoppers with an array of rock ‘n’ roll and media memorabilia.
To McQuade, the antique mall is special because of its diversity.
“Each of us dealers are different. You go to different shops, you get a different outlook on life, you know?” McQuade said. “And that’s the cool part. None of us want to have just one store of our own, but we take care of the whole family.”
At the front of the store, a few of the mall’s most dedicated supporters sit behind the front desk, greeting customers and handling purchases. One of them, Vickie Grimm, has worked at the antique mall for four years and had a booth for 13 years. She said she is sad to say goodbye.
“It’s a really great place to work, and all of us here are just like family, so it’s kind of hard,” Grimm said.
The antique mall is shutting down to make space for an expansion of Playland Skate Center’s facilities. The antique mall workers confessed that they don’t agree with the decision to close the mall.
“We weren’t given a choice,” one of the workers, Evelyn Downey, said.
Playland’s general manager, Stephanie Dickie, confirmed to the Austin American-Statesman that the skate center will be expanding, but hasn’t yet announced what that expansion will entail. Some antique mall vendors suspect the addition of a bowling alley or arcade.
The closing of the Austin Antique Mall marks the end of an era for vintage lovers citywide. Downey said she has little hope that the mall will ever resurface in the Austin community after its closure.
“There’s nothing in Austin that’s affordable,” Downey said. “There’s a lot of empty commercial real estate out there. It’s empty for a reason.”
Many vendors plan to relocate their businesses, but some will stop selling permanently when the mall closes.
Dealer Brad Bradley has been selling at the antique mall for 6 years. For him, the loss of the antique mall means the loss of an important source of additional income. He said he is currently unsure what he will do with his inventory.
“[Austin Antique Mall] brought a lot of people a lot of joy, and it was a good source for a lot of people to come find things whenever they needed something,” Bradley said. “You could always find something you didn’t know you couldn’t live without.”
The antique mall’s legacy will live on through the collection of artifacts that have passed through it, now scattered across the community as tokens of its impact. Over the next few weeks, a majority of vendors’ booths will have promotions. If you want to get your hands on discounted antiques you didn’t know you couldn’t live without, visit the mall by May 15.
