By Pauline Masson –
When Scott and Kandi Wolf decided to turn the former Tom Wolf Hardware store at 410 East Osage into what they called an antique mall they started with a clean slate. They didn’t know what to expect.
“It was all Kandi’s idea,” Scott Said. “She looked at the empty store and said, ‘Why don’t we,’ and I thought, yeah we can do this.”
Tom Wolf, Scott’s father, built the 9,000 square foot building 45 years ago as a permanent locations for his growing hardware store that had opened for business in Cronin’s Western Auto building in the East Osage mall.
Tom and Beverly Wolf still own the building. Scott and Kandi rent it for what they named Route 66 Goodies and gave it the generic description antique mall. The name is misleading. The individual collectors that show their wares in the building offer a smorgasbord of American memorabilia, arts, crafts, collectibles of every stripe, and, yes, antiques.
“When Dad and Mom decided to retire and close the hardware, I just knew that this building needed to still be part of the city,” Scott said.
Now after five months, some 65 collectors – a number that surprised the hopeful new owners – have rented booths or stalls to display their eclectic collections. Some of the vendors are local, but there are quite a few from out of town.
Scott, whose first job at age 18 was in the former hardware emporium, knows his way around hammers and hinges. He constructed the individual stalls flanked by a series of inviting aisles that woo shoppers and lookers with a never ending supply of eye-catching Americana.
“I just sort of scoped it out in my head, what I thought it should look like,” Scott said. “And it worked,”
In one aisle, a giant standing moose towers over a nearby miniature dinosaur. Hand crafted wall hangings of metal and carved wood, lead the way to books, trophies, antique toys, handmade quilts, dishes of every generation, a 120-foot line of collectible license plates, and a smattering of catchy garments. The eclectic mix gives shoppers an ocean of trinkets and treasures to memorialize their visit.
“We’ve been pretty lucky,” Scott said. “Some great vendors have found us.”
Located within a stone’s throw of the Graze Catering compound across the road and the Route 66 Tourist Center in the Red Cedar, East Osage is growing into a Mecca for Route 66 motorists.
The day I was there there, the Singleton family from Dallas, Josh, Laura and their daughter Litzi were there. Josh grew up in Pacific, the son of Patrick and Brenda Singleton. He was just showing his hometown to Laura and Litzi when he spied the Route 66 Goodies sign in a building that he recalled as a hardware store and decided to check it out.
Laura and Litzi found a beautiful crystal lamp for Litzi’s room. In their travels they had previously bought a more traditional lamp in a big box store but it was still in it’s original box and could easily be returned, they said.
“This one prettier,” Litzi said.
For Tom and Bev Wolf, now semi-retired the new business has turned into something of an adventure. On any given day, one or both Tom and Bev may be in the store to chat with shoppers.
After one vendor told them about Miller’s Country Crafts in Ava, Illinois, a honey supplier that specializes in fruit conserves, Tom and Bev made the two-hour drive to Ava to check it out,
“We got there just as they were cooking up strawberry conserves,” Bev said. “And I have to say it was delicious.”
They brought enough blueberry, blackberry, strawberry and peach conserves, and apple sauce, along with a selection of Miller’s famous honey to fill two rows of shelves and added to the Goodies in the shop.
A lady standing at the counter overheard Bev’s description of her visit in Ava.
“I’ve been there,” she said. “I tasted those samples and they are delicious.”
I spent all the cash my husband Bob and I had on us on blackberry and peach conserves and apple sauce.
Coming from a family of homemade jelly and preserves I had to look up what conserves are. It turns out that conserves are cousins of jelly, jam, preserves and marmalade. They are made with dried fruits and nuts and are cooked. They have a very thick and chunky texture and work really well as a spread and as a condiment for meats and cheeses.
I stayed longer than I intended. It was my first trip into an on-site interview since being stricken with long COVID almost three years ago. Scott noticed that I was a bit wobbly and went outside and brought in one of the bright yellow shopping carts that stand next to the entry door. With something to hold on to, I made a foray through the aisles. It would be impossible to recap all the goodies that are there but some things caught my fancy.
For bibliophiles like me, books are tucked into busy shelves on quite a few booths. Some are in groupings, and there are some real finds. Several of local geologist and author Jo Schaper’s books are there. A stack of ten Thomas Kincaid’s Light books occupied the corner of one shelf. A three-shelf book case of cookbooks was the center piece in another aisle another.
An antique toy tractor sits on a high shelf. A display of antique furniture occupies one oversized stall. As I made my way back to the front counter I passed a row of traditional souvenir tee shirts and sweatshirts.
It is just the kind of indoor specialty mall to warm the hearts of memorabilia collectors everywhere and any red-bloodied Route 66 adventurer that happens by.
Wonderful article. I missed the new shopping opportunity. Was in Pacific Friday but must have been watching traffic or something as I drove past. Thank you for sharing. I will definitely check it out!