In the marketplace: Vintage-collectible is the modern decor
By Steve Herring
Published in News on March 12, 2018 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Robin Guevremont, left, and Patti Bigley stand in their new business, Royall Marketplace, 2805 Royall Ave. The vendor-based store offers a wide range of vintage, collectible, home decor and antique items.
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Patti Bigley, left, and Robin Guevremont display some of the vintage, collectible, home decor and antique items available in their new store on Royall Avenue.
A large, old-fashioned wooden wagon wheel rests in one spot.
Nearby are several vintage mantle clocks, while another area is occupied by old soft drink bottles. There are coins, football and baseball cards, tin signs, cameras, toys, 1955 sake jugs and furniture.
Anyone looking for that little something different for their home or as a gift can probably find it at Royall Marketplace, 2805 Royall Ave.
Patti Bigley and Robin Guevremont opened their store Jan. 2.
"We are a vendor-based store, so they rent booth space off of us," Bigley said. "We sell vintage, collectibles, home decor, antiques. You name it, and we try to have it. Gift items."
Vendors keep their spaces filled with whatever they find, Guevremont said.
Guevremont and Bigley maintain the vendor areas.
The store also takes consignments, as room allows.
The women have known each other about four years and previously had worked in a store set up the same way.
They enjoy meeting all of the people who come in and talking to them.
"We enjoyed it and decided we wanted to do it ourselves," Bigley said. "There is a need for it."
Hopefully, the store will help bring more people to Goldsboro instead of them searching for similar stores elsewhere, they said.
"I can't believe how it all came together with each vendor bringing something different to the table," Guevremont said. "If you walk around you will notice that there is something different in each booth that makes that booth stand out or that vendor stand out."
One vendor is a man who has a booth at the front and one at the back of the store.
"He brings the guys in," Guevremont said. "Believe it or not -- tools,. People come in here looking for tools."
"It is tools like vintage bits and old tools," Bigley said.
One consignor makes bows for little girls.
"We even had a woman buy one for her puppy," Guevremont said. "So they are not just for girls."
Currently, the store has 39 vendors and six consignors and a waiting list of at least 40 people wanting to set up in the shop.
There are many more who want to consign, but there is no room for them either.
"Everybody is looking for something different, and we try to have it," Bigley said. "We even have a booth for Heritage Farms. They sell their salamis and T-shirts and things like that."
Guevremont and her husband have bought and sold stuff for the last 20 years.
"My husband, especially, buys and sells on eBay," she said. "Then he got into buying and selling storage units.
"For a time he had a little space in a vintage shop. We just love to do it. We love to buy and sell -- buying and selling is fun."
The store is the place to visit for shoppers in the market for unique items, Guevremont said.
The store carries a lot of vintage items, but only a few antiques, she said.
"We have decorators who come in and walk the store and get ideas for homes that they are decorating for people," Guevremont said. "House stagers who have bought stuff to stage their houses with -- they stage them so that they will sell for realty companies.
"We have had other dealers in vintage shops who have bought from us. They might be from Raleigh, or some other higher place, where they command a little bit higher price than what Goldsboro can."
"Patti and I have our own spaces as well. We want our items to sell, but we try to get everybody else's items to sell. We want everybody to be able to make money and enjoy what they are doing.
"I just like seeing everything come through here," Bigley said. "It is so different, or so old that you have seen it before, and it brings back memories when you were at your aunt's house, your mother's house, stuff your mom had."
In some cases, people might find items they already have at home but the ones in the store are in better shape and they upgrade, Bigley said.
"If you are a person who likes to change out your decor quite often, it is good for you because you can do that," Guevremont said. "You can restyle what you have in your house."
The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
For more information, call 919-947-6269 or check out the store's Facebook page.