BY JACLYN ROSE –
Located at 617 Mena Street in Mena, The Mena Antique Mall boasts an impressive 4,000 square feet of shopping space, that is the equivalent to half a city block. The store opened 12 years ago, under the management of Ken McKinnis, and in February of 2015 was purchased by Michael and Maggie Eddy, who had worked with McKinnis as vendors previously.
Maggie graduated from Mena High School, while Michael graduated from DeWitt and the couple met while attending Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and were married in 1996. While spending some time working in Memphis, Michael got interested in flea markets and opened a booth at the Mena Antique Mall after moving back to Mena.
Mena Antique Mall was recently voted number one in onlyinyourplace.com’s Eight Most Enjoyable Antique Shopping Trips for the State of Arkansas. Being named number one for the entire state is a high honor that Eddy attributes to the hard work done by the previous owner, McKinnis, and the people that worked with him.
Mena Antique Mall has everything you could imagine, from vintage glass, to repurposed furniture, antiques and homemade goods. “We have antiques, vintage everything and new merchandise. We have some from the 1920’s to the 1940’s and a lot from the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s and some that is currently modern. We are heavily vintage with a flair of antique and a hint of modern,” said Eddy with a laugh. “We also have a lot that is repurposed and up cycled and we pay attention to trends and styles and try to keep up with what people are looking for,” Eddy added.
Though all of the Mena Antique Mall’s 30 vendor booths are currently full, they definitely welcome people to come by and put their names on a waiting list for when a booth opens up. They guarantee that they will call the names in the order they request space.
“Each booth has it’s own personality, we also have businesses that are located elsewhere in town that have booths because it is good advertising for their store. We have a local mechanic who makes his own lamps and I love having them in the store, we have Doc’s Emporium and Doc is still here, he spends a lot of time at home taking care of his wife, but he was a flea market owner from decades past and a lot of people come looking for him. He’s still here. The biggest personality is the local talent we have in the store. We sell art and frames and we try to keep a good stock of vintage music, but it is hard because the good stuff does sell quickly. We truly have something for everyone,” explained Eddy.
The Mena Antique Mall offers a 10% discount on most purchases over $20.00 based on the vendor’s discretion and you can find them at www.facebook.com/menaantiquemall and www.menaantiquemall.wordpress.com. They are open seven days a week, Monday through Thursday from 10 am until 5 pm, Friday and Saturday from 10 am until 6 pm and Sunday from 10 am until 3:30 pm and their phone number is 479.394.3231.
“My wife is my first draw to Polk County, because her family is here, but then I found out I could hunt and I was even happier. I’m from Arkansas County so I hunt duck and I hunt buck, I hunt whatever,” said Eddy with a laugh.
About Author
Jeri Pearson
Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.
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