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Daytripping with Kyle Jordan: Antique shopping in Arcadia

By Kyle Jordan, WINK News

ARCADIA, Fla. - Maybe you're an avid antique collector, or you're just looking for that perfect piece to finish decorating your home. No matter the reason, you need to plan a daytrip to Arcadia. My photojournalist Jason Sill and I roamed up and down Oak Street in Arcadia where there are more than a dozen antique shops, all around.

"About 10 years ago someone opened an antique shop and it has just mushroomed from there. Now we're a destination point," says Judith Randall. She's the head of the Antique Association of Arcadia.

With so many shops in such a small place, this is antique shopping made easy. Wives and Husbands shop together and alone. When found two men on a scouting expedition. They wanted to be able to point their wives in the right direction in order to "minimize the damage" as they put it.

Mike Zager of "The Shoppes Upstairs" says "The more competition the better it is. It draws people from all over to come to Arcadia just for antiques."

Fred Goodwin is a distributor of old music memorabilia and he says "It's well worth it because I love the town. I love the atmosphere."

Oak Street is lined with stores you can duck into. Inside you'll find a sampling of just about everything from glassworks to dolls to hats and plenty more. Each store has its own personality.

"I try to get unique things so when people go from shop to shop, they will come back and say wow, I haven't seen that," says Rosanne Collins who runs Abigail's Antiques. When she moved to Arcadia, her home wasn't big enough to house all her own antiques, so she moved them to the next best place! "I had to get rid of some of my own stuff which was tough. But its here with me during the day so it’s still like being at home."

Arcadia's antique obsession spills over into the streets on the fourth Saturday of every month. More than a hundred dealers set up shop in downtown with all types of antiques and collectibles, drawing in treasure hunters from all over the state. Zager says, "We could easily have 50 people in here at one time and a thousand people walk through in the morning."

Antiques and Arcadia seem to be a good fit, especially since most of the buildings downtown are as old or older than the antiques inside. One of those shops, sits at the top of the stairs on the corner of Oak Street and Polk Avenue. It's the old Arcadia Opera House.

In keeping with the theatre theme, they've put up a lot of old relics to keep that idea going. You can see items like a 1916 silent film projector. They also have the old ticket booth from the opera booth. The sign says tickets adult are just 20 cents.

Most of the stores are open between 10 am and 4 pm, Wednesday through Saturday, so plan a whole day to enjoy this one-of-a-kind shopping adventure.



The stores in Arcadia have an association set up. If you have questions or want more information you can give them a call at 863-494-2038.

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