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What's Old Is New Again

CANDACE C. MUNDY/TAMPA TRIBUNE

A french plate for sale at the Antique Exchange, which just opened at 100 4th Ave. N.W., Lutz.

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By B.C. MANION, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 12, 2008

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LUTZ - The building's fluorescent tangerine and lime green color scheme has a singular aim: To get drivers passing by to do a double take.

"When cars are going 60 miles an hour down U.S. 41, you have to grab their attention," said Dale Longenberger, who manages the Antique Exchange at 100 Fourth Ave. N.W.

The shop opened Dec. 11 and, so far, the tactic seems to be working.

"Customers are going wild," Longenberger said. "The customers are here sometimes before we are here."

The brazen colors are just the beginning.

Indoors, thousands of items - from a British World War II helmet to an African soapstone elephant and a set of autographed Anne Rice books - compete to catch the eye.

The store is in its third location. It operated in St. Petersburg for a dozen years before moving to Temple Terrace about a year ago and then to Lutz.

The shop aims to be inviting, said Longenberger, who left a fast-paced corporate sales job a decade ago to enter the world of antiques.

In corporate life, the pressure was on daily to make a sale.

At the antiques shop, each day develops a rhythm of its own.

"The people have been wonderful," Longenberger said, marveling at the warm reception the shop has received in Lutz.

"I made nice friends over there in Temple Terrace," he said. "But already, I know Stella and Buddy."

Stella Batchelder and her husband, Buddy, of Land O' Lakes, are quickly becoming regulars at the Lutz store.

"They're very kind in trying to please you," Stella Batchelder said. "They're very congenial. They try so hard."

In Longenberger's corporate life, success was measured by sales volumes in the millions.

His new life is more relaxed.

"A day in an antiques store is finding out about Stella's new grandson, or her new pet that she just bought.

"It's a lot less money, but a lot more fun."

The store wants everyone to feel comfortable there, including children and pets. It also welcomes people to bargain.

"Basically, we expect it," Longenberger said. "That's part of the fun for the customer."

People are encouraged to wander about the shop and to pick things up to take a closer look.

"It's not, 'If you break it, you bought it.' We don't like that. Breakage happens. Accidents happen."

And, although they want to make sales, they won't be pushy, Longenberger said.

"We don't follow you around the shop. People don't like to be followed."

If you want to know more about a piece, feel free to ask - but don't always expect an answer, Longenberger added.

He doesn't pretend to know it all.

He understands that customers who are buying an item want to know something about it.

To that end, he asks the store's antiques dealers to include as much information as they can on the price tag.

But sometimes the only thing a dealer knows about a piece is that he liked it and thought someone else would, too, Longenberger said.

To augment his knowledge, the store manager consults books on antiques and does research online. But he said much of what he knows he has learned from customers with a passion for collecting particular kinds of items.

Most of the store's inventory was selected by its owner, Patrick Hanlon, who goes to estate sales and picks up pieces during his travels to California, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and other spots.

There are four dealers at the store, and there are plans to add 10 to 15 more.

The dealers pay rent - $100 to $300 a month, depending on the size of their space - and a 10 percent commission on sales.

Beyond antiques, the store also sells collectibles and gift items - and it buys such items from people coming in.

People visiting the shop have different reasons for coming.

Margaret Carreiro and Ruth Noland, who both live at the Encore RV Park in Pasco County, dropped by last week.

Carreiro wanted to sell some colored cut glass. Noland wanted to find some knife holders, once commonly used in formal place settings.

Both women said they also simply enjoy browsing at antiques shops.

"It sparks memories," Noland said, noting the old furniture, dishes and lamps remind her of times she spent in the homes of her grandmother, great-aunts and great-uncles.

When the store doesn't have what a customer wants, Longenberger makes a note of it, then calls the customer when an item of that type comes in.

Over time, he gets to know his customers' tastes and can be on the lookout for pieces they might enjoy.

That's how Joe Testasecca, a regular at the former store in Temple Terrace, found out about two stained-glass panels, dating to 1848, that came from a church in Baltimore.

Testasecca snapped up the panels for $400 each. He estimates the pair is worth up to $2,000.

Edith Norton, another frequent customer in Temple Terrace, said Longenberger got to know her tastes and kept her apprised of items she might like.

Just about every time he called, she wound up buying the piece, she said.

"Dale knew what I liked. He's very, very, very good," she said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Antique Exchange, 100 Fourth Ave. N.W., Lutz

HOURS: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday

INFORMATION: (813) 948-3538

Reporter B.C. Manion can be reached at (813) 865-1507 or bmanion@tampatrib.com.

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