Larry Lehnerz has an eye for the unusual.
And it’s in his latest business undertaking that he gets full use of that talent.
Meet the owner of Titusville Trading Co., who specializes in finding the fun, the unusual – and the occasionally bizarre – items that qualify as antiques.
“We really strive to have a variety,” Lehnerz said, of the merchandise filling his 1,100-square foot shop at 205 First Ave. S. in Titusville Station.
Take a tour and you’ll find out fast how much variety there is. A healthy collection of vinyl records and musical instruments fills one section of the shop, and they’re located just a few steps from a mannequin head in a leather flight helmet, a medical cabinet for bunion creams, and an assortment of fishing bobbers.
Across the aisle, there’s a full compliment of other sporting gear – from old baseball gloves and a vintage pair of baseball knickers to lovely old fly rods. A few paces to the back of the shop brings you to a nicely aged wooden bar from a Victorian home in Seattle, standing near a massive collection of postcards from all over the place.
And that’s just during a cursory look around the place. You’ll also find lots of old camera equipment, horse leathers, and some choice furniture from the ‘50s and ‘60s, along with vintage toys – lots of toys. (Even a pair of Rock’em-Sock’em Robots, along with older metal cars and planes and games.)
Lehnerz has been in the antiques business for the past 10 years, but this is his first time operating his own store. Prior to Titusville Trading Co., which he and his wife Tricia Schug opened this past December, Lehnerz was a dealer, selling his wares from other people’s stores.
But he likes his first foray running a shop of his own.
“What I love about this is the interaction with customers,” Lehnerz said. “Every day someone tells me a story. You don’t get that as a dealer.”
Lehnerz described his style, when it comes to choosing merchandise: He chooses what he would want.
“In part, this is my interest,” he said. “When I see sporting goods, I love to pick them up.”
That also holds true for the sleek, modern designs of furniture from the ‘60s.
“Midcentury modern really interests me,” Lehnerz said, coining a descriptor of the styles influenced by Danish design and architect Frank Lloyd Wright. While he didn’t have those styles in his own house growing up, he always was partial to it, he said, and now he gets to put it in his store.
It’s a choice that has been paying off.
“People in their 30s and younger, they like that style,” Lehnerz said. “They’re really attracted to the ‘60s, even though they weren’t there.
“I would like this to be thought of as a cool, hip place to shop,” he added.
That’s a close descriptor for what customer Michelle McClinn thinks of the store.
McClinn, a local artist who in the past has sold items to rocker Courtney Love, said she was immediately taken with the store.
“I’m always on the hunt – that’s what I do,” she said of finding items to sell online.
Some of her previous choices sparked online interest with Love, who eventually asked her to give her first refusal on items McClinn would find.
One item at Titusville Trading Co. – a funky red-velvet armchair in the shape of a heart – immediately caught McClinn’s attention for Love.
“It looks like it might be from the ’20s or ’30s,” McClinn said. The first thing I thought of was Courtney. She has very eccentric taste.”
So McClinn snagged it, and now she’s making payments on it, in hopes of attracting Love’s interest in the piece. So far she hasn’t heard from the rocker’s buyer, probably because Love is currently on tour in Europe.
Whatever the outcome, McClinn plans to be back.
“I loved it – I was so excited,” she said, of finding the shop. “They have good prices, unusual items and they’re close to home.”
What: New antique store in downtown Kent
Where: 205 First Ave. S., Kent
Contact: 253-347-1670, or titusville@comcast.net
Coming up: The Kent Downtown Partnership will have its monthly networking event 5-7 p.m. March 18 at Titusville Trading Co. For more information, call the KDP at 253-813-6976, or go to www.kentdowntown.org.
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