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Relics Midwest draws shoppers from around US

T-R PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ One person’s junk, is another’s treasure. Such is the mindset behind Relics Midwest, 406 S. First Ave, owned and operated by Ron Fisher. The 16,000-square foot facility, which also houses Ron Fisher Furniture, draws thousands of shoppers from around the U.S. each year. Metal signage, vintage furniture, lanterns, jugs, barrels, doors, windows, metal cans, ladders, doors, tractor and wagon parts, and more, are some of the “junk” items to be had.

One person’s junk, is another’s treasure. Such is the mindset behind Relics Midwest, 406 S. First Ave., owned and operated by Ron Fisher. The 16,000-square foot facility, which also houses Ron Fisher Furniture, draws thousands of shoppers from around the U.S. each year.

“I would definitely say Relics Midwest is one of our top assets and hottest attractions, or as many say, our best kept secret,” Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Val Ruff said. “The majority of the visitors are beyond Marshalltown and midwestern states.”

Fisher and his son-in-law Thad Lents travel the country in search of merchandise to add to the store. Metal signage, vintage furniture, lanterns, jugs, barrels, doors, windows, metal cans, ladders, doors, tractor wagon parts and more are some of the “junk” items the pair purchases and resells.

“If we can see somebody can do something with it, we’ll buy it and make sure it’s affordable, so we can turn it over,” Fisher said.

Relics Midwest formed in 2015. Fisher said the process has been experimental.

T-R PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ Cheryl Smallwood-Roberts of Cedar Rapids, left, and her daughter Rachel Burge of Van Horne shopped a recent Sunday Rustic Treasures Blast. Here they look at a Victorian lamp base. “My brother who lives in Indiana comes back and forth quite often, and he’ll find some way to attach the globe to make a globe lamp, and then rewire it. These can be hard to find, and I’ve never seen one quite like this one,” Smallwood-Roberts said.

“We buy stuff no one else would buy. We don’t pick. Typically, when we go somewhere, it is because someone has called us and they want their things gone,” he said. “As we went along, I realized that everybody is a hoarder at some level. People asked about windows, so we started buying windows. We just bought everything and we still buy everything. We realize with Pinterest and Etsy and these other various DIY websites, we wanted to be the supply house.”

The store is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., but what really draws in a high volume of customers is the Sunday Rustic Treasures Blast from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every other Sunday. It’s not unusual for over 500 people to attend this event, traveling from as far as New York or California.

Fisher markets the business by paying for advertisements on Facebook. Currently, more than 26,000 people follow the page.

“We have people that literally spend hours here. We also have the live edge lumber that is reasonably priced. Nobody has that. We do,” Fisher said. “People have to drive some distance to get here, so the faster things sell, the sooner we can bring in new things.”

Imagination is a customer’s only limitation.

“Normally you go to a store and they repurpose something and tell you what it’s going to be. People come here with a vision and have their own ideas,” Fisher said.

Lents goes on buying trips and helps set up store displays.

“People may (buy doors) and put three together and it will be the backdrop for their wedding,” Lents said. “We’ll sell two tall ladders and they’ll put a ladder across the top, and that’s the arch they will get married under. We’ll sell a milk can or a nail keg, and that’ll be where people put the cards when they get to the wedding. There are so many rustic weddings going on anymore and rustic graduations — a lot of old-school stuff.”

Cheryl Smallwood-Roberts of Cedar Rapids and her daughter Rachel Burge of Van Horne shopped a recent Sunday Rustic Treasures Blast.

“We’ve been seeing the posts on Facebook for awhile, and I like to do repurposing. I have a little place I do that in my garage,” Burge said. “I came to look for ideas, supplies and see what’s here. A lot of times you see the same kinds of things, but we barely even scratched the surface and found a lot.”

Relics Midwest may be reached at 641-753-3414. It will be a stop on the Back Roads Junk-It Trail, slated for Oct. 5-7.

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz at (641) 753-6611 or sjordan@timesrepublican.com

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