Woman parlays her husband's career into a business she now runs
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on November 26, 2017 3:05 AM
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News-Argus/JOEY PITCHFORD
Jan Metzler sits among a collection of Park and Split P products at Vintage Collectibles and More on U.S. 70 East. Metzler began her new venture by selling discontinued Park and Split P items, and later branched out into purchasing and selling new products.
For Jan Metzler, starting a new business began with a simple suggestion.
In October, Metzler began selling discontinued and limited edition items from Park Designs and its child company Split P, two design companies which produce a wide variety of home decor products.
Metzler's husband, Marty Metzler, was the president of Park Designs for 20 years, and after he left, Jan found a way to parlay the relationships she made during his time there into an enterprise of her own.
She began by selling discontinued Park items, and then branched out to purchasing new stock directly from the manufacturer.
"Park has had a presence in Wayne County for over 20 years, maybe even closer to 30, and people have always wanted to have access to the Park items, but there's never been a store that carried it in Wayne County," she said. "As I made my way into this new venture, I saw that I could order new product at very competitive prices because I have no shipping cost, I pick up all of my orders."
Metzler sells her items out of Vintage Collectibles & More, a consignment shop at 4750 U.S. 70 E.
The store, owned by Kathleen Durham, features displays from dozens of vendors, and Metzler said her relationship with Durham has made becoming one of those vendors a smooth process since she began in October.
"The store is so well done, it's so well maintained, all the vendors use good taste I think, it's just a fun place," she said. "Let me give you a good example of how good Kathleen is. The first week I was here, I got a call from Kathleen saying everything on my table had been sold. I said 'oh my goodness I better get in there and set it up again,' and when I got in there it was perfectly set up. She had taken the time to do it."
Metzler said that she wanted to bring Park products to Wayne County partially because of the Park warehouse sale, a tradition which has fallen by the wayside in recent years.
"People know about the Park warehouse sale, that was an event in this area," she said. "All the time people would come to me, because they knew I was Marty's wife, and they would say 'why doesn't Park have a store here?' So this is an opportunity for people to get access to those products."
Going forward, Metzler is looking to expand her inventory beyond Park and Split P items. She said she had not settled on anything else yet, but is looking at a number of options. Metzler encouraged anyone interested in specific Park or Split P products to contact Durham at Vintage Collectibles to set up a special order. She said that she has confidence in the quality of her selection.
"Park and Split P have a quality which I believe is unsurpassed. Park stands behind the good quality of its products," she said. "I also have prior experience in consignment, and I'm very selective about what I sell, so you can bet you'll find the best quality here."
For more information on Metzler's items and more, call Vintage Collectibles & More at 919-288-1493.