Antique treasures, trinkets fill GV shop

When Sandy and Stephen Ganeles first met, they hated each other's furniture. Sandy's had taken a beating thanks to her five children and Stephen's was a collection of bland pieces from now-bankrupt Levitz Furniture. Once they decided to get married in 1985, they started shopping for furniture together. Soon they discovered they had a penchant for antiques.sky lanterns

Then they got hooked.

“It became addictive,” said Stephen. “It's all about the hunt.”

It didn't take long before they had accumulated enough antique goodies for Sandy to set up shop at a Folsom antique mall. In 1996, when a spot on West Main Street in Grass Valley — then occupied by the Heartland Gallery — came up for sale,led tube the Ganeleses jumped at the chance and bought the space in the 1870s building.

It's been 16 years since the couple — both retired teachers — opened Antique Gallery, and the sole proprietors claim they never tire of the antique world. Although the Grass Valley Antique Association's pamphlet describes their business as featuring elegant furniture, glassware, pottery, lighting and tin toys, that's just the beginning. The store's three rooms are filled with an eclectic collection of treasures — many of which are never to be found again, said Stephen.

“One of the things I love about the antique world is that we are not competitive with one another,LED E27” he said. “In fact, we actually want more antique stores to come to our area. We never have the same stuff, and we even buy from each other occasionally.”

The Ganeleses have built their business almost exclusively by word of mouth. They don't advertise and they have no presence on the Internet.led strip

“Why? I don't want a second job monitoring the Internet,” said Stephen. “We like flexibility — if we hear something we want is for sale, we'll close up the shop and go. Plus, we have 10 grandkids.”

Hitting the road is a favorite part of the job, said Stephen. A recent trip took him and his wife to New York, Wisconsin and Indiana.

“It's always an adventure,” he said. “We were in Washington state recently and saw a small sign that said ‘antiques,LED candles' so we drove for three miles down a dirt road. There we found the most gorgeous lamps I'd ever seen in my life. We find things in strange places.”

Over the years, Stephen said he and Sandy have developed a good sense of what things are worth, but you can't possibly know it all.

“Sometimes an expert on a particular item will come in the store and we'll learn something,” Stephen said. “If we're wrong, we want to know. In this business, word of mouth is everything, and we've built a reputation for being honest regarding the value of things. We'll give sellers 50 percent of what an item is worth.”

As former teachers, the Ganeleses say they welcome young people into their shop.

“These middle and high school kids usually ask good questions — it's good for them to learn to appreciate antiques,” Stephen said. “Interestingly, I've never had a single thing broken by my grandchildren. Adults, yes, but not the kids.”