Four years ago this month, many people in Iroquois Falls didn’t think the fledgling Ambridge Antiques stood a chance of survival. Its owners signed the lease on the store space on the same day Resolute Forest Products announced the permanent closure of the town’s only industry, its paper mill.
“Opening any business is terrifying,” says owner Tracey Peever, “but that day in particular,” she adds, breaking into nervous laughter, “added an element of extra fear.”
But it was all for naught. Business keeps booming for the store that its owner calls “a general store of everything from the past.”
“We look for things from as far back as the late 1700s, right up to the 1960s. Now a little bit of the 70s, because that’s becoming more current.”
And while she says the people of the Falls support the store, antique lovers travel long distances to her store.
“I have many customers from Hearst, Kapuskasing, New Liskeard and even as far as the East Coast coming into the store regularly.”
Ambridge Antiques does have an online presence, but Peever says it can’t beat walk-in traffic.
“I feel that antiques are a tactile business,” she explains. “ You get an image and have an idea what it looks like, but until you pick it up, that’s when it really speaks to you. Online is a wonderful draw to get people in the store, but ultimately, the sales happen at the counter.”