Some of my fondest memories growing up were going to garage sales and antique stores with my mom and grandma. I loved the nostalgia that covered the walls and shelves, strange and beautiful to me. I learned so much about the past through those shops. The war-time posters, the hand painted china, fur coats and pistols–all of it enchanted me with curiosity.
There’s a little shop across from the Museum of Art in San Luis Obispo that I like to visit every now and then. Antique Boutique has the familiarity that my inner child craves from time to time. It’s one of my favorite antique shops in the area and I had the privilege of meeting with Janet Becker to talk about how she came to own the store.
In 1981, Janet opened a framing store in the same space where her antiques now reside. The framing business kept her and her daughter busy, working with many customers and distributors. As I listened to her talk about it, I could hear the passion in her voice for it. She told me of her dreams to someday open a picture framing school, where the old ways of framing would be taught. But more than framing, Janet enjoys working with people.
In January of 2000, the framing equipment went into storage and the doors re-opened, now as Antique Boutique. Janet and her daughter continued to run the shop together, acquiring items through consignment, estate sales and even other antique stores.
When I asked Janet what her favorite part was about owning an antique store, she quickly responded that it was the people she loved most. “Everyday is different,” she mentioned. A young Russian couple came into her shop a earlier in the year and bought a belt buckle, taking it back home with them. The items in the antique store are almost alive, traveling as they please. Janet loves the connection, taking note of her belt buckle that now lives in Russia.
“The store took a hit after September 11, [2001],” Janet recounted, mentioning that the tourism in San Luis Obispo dropped heavily. The next two or three years were difficult ones. “What helped you to push through,” I inquired. “I just never quit,” she matter-of-factly stated. Thanks to her perseverance, her store is still thriving after fourteen years of business, with multiple people contributing and an abundance of new items regularly. I enjoyed spending time with Janet so much, chatting through the afternoon and losing track of time.
If you’re local or passing through, stop by Antique Boutique, located at 1019 Broad Street, just up from the Mission.
