Ramona Antique Fair, a Main Street landmark for the past quarter century with its wide assortment of antiques and collectibles under one roof, is set to close Aug. 31.
The 35 dealers in the 7,000-square-foot building at 734 Main St. are in the process of clearing out their booths, many offering special discounts of 15 percent to 75 percent to move their merchandise.
Owners Laura and Bob Lyman said they’ve been struggling to keep the doors open. But the combination of inflation, changing buying habits, overhead costs and the temporary pandemic shutdown has convinced them it doesn’t make financial sense to keep the business running, they said.
“We talked to everybody and told our dealers,” Laura Lyman said. “They understand the situation. The sales they were making were not enough to pay the rent. They’re not doing good and the business is not doing good.”
Sandee and Jim Salvatore opened the Ramona Antique Fair 26 years ago and ran it until they retired. The Lymans took over five years ago. The Salvatores, who still own the building, were on vacation and could not be reached for comment.
One of the primary challenges in recent months has been the rising costs on everything, including essentials, Bob Lyman said. Their business is competing for consumer dollars that have to be spent on staples, he said.
“People are spending their money on gas and groceries,” Lyman said. “This is discretionary spending. Right now, consumers have to go without antiques because they have to take care of their families.”
Just as inflation is creeping up, shoppers are being lured by the convenience of online shopping, the Lymans said. After selling antiques for 16 years and running Ramona Antique Fair for five, the Lymans have noticed other changes in shopping behaviors.
“The new generation doesn’t care about antique shopping,” Laura Lyman said. “They’re minimalists. They want the least amount of things in their home. Things are changing.”
While the Lymans still have faithful customers who visit the store every other week or at least once a month, they say it can be difficult to attract customers in the summer because their 1915 building — used at one time as a Model A Ford dealership — isn’t air conditioned. Aside from spending the money to install an air-conditioning system, the cost to run it would be half the cost of their rent during the summer, Bob Lyman said.
One of the final straws was being closed three months during the pandemic, the couple said.
“One more month of COVID and we would have been out of business,” said Bob Lyman, noting that his salary from a security and construction job at a spa company in Mexico paid Ramona Antique Fair’s rent during COVID. “If I had not had a job, we would have closed back then because we couldn’t have paid the rent.”
Charlotte Jensen has been selling antique glassware, clothing and furniture in several spaces at the Ramona Antique Fair since 2017.
“I’m sad to see it closing, but it’s a sign of the times,” Jensen said. “The building is not air conditioned and the parking is horrible on Main Street, so it’s not really business friendly. When people can’t make money and just the landlord is making money, you have to make a good business decision and that’s what they did.”
Jensen was prepared for the change. In fact, she is looking at Ramona Antique Fair’s closing as an opportunity for the smaller antique shops in town to get more business.
She opened Antique Corner at the corner of Eighth and Main streets in Ramona with her husband, Don, on May 1. The store of blended dealers complements an adjacent Ramona Valley Humane Society & SPCA general outlet store the Jensens run to raise money for a future Humane Society headquarters.
Jensen said her building, formerly a Rexall Pharmacy and then a Carquest auto parts store, has the advantage of ample parking on Eighth Street. She says she can also attract customers because they’re one of the few stores that is air-conditioned and is located near three restaurants — El Michoacan, Kountry Kitchen and Marinade on Main.
“When one chapter ends another chapter starts,” Jensen said. “We’re hoping Ramona will continue to be a popular tourist spot with antique shops and wineries. Today I had customers from Carlsbad and Michigan. There’s plenty of traffic up here.”
Other former Ramona Antique Fair dealers took similar action and opened their own antique stores on the same block. The new neighbors are Junk & Disorderly and Grandma’s House.
Shawna Duren, a Ramona Antique Fair dealer, has been selling her merchandise at a 75 percent discount before she relocates to Tennessee. Although news of the store’s closing came as a shock, she was more prepared than most dealers because she was planning to move anyway.
“It’s been a great place to work,” Duren said. “I’d have to say there’s a lot of camaraderie among the dealers. It’s a joy to see all the different items. Bob and Laura are great people. I’ll miss them.”
Duren entered the antiques business through her mom, Janet Allister, who was originally a picker for dealers, buying items at a low price and then selling them to dealers. Allister was a dealer at Antique Fair about the time it opened 26 years ago, and after she ed away in 2009, Duren’s dad, Harold Allister, took over the booth. Duren stepped in to help her dad a couple of years ago.
Since then, Duren’s seen the antiques business become more competitive, with customers comparison shopping on eBay to see if they can get a better deal than brick-and-mortar prices.
“It’s something that you have to compete with,” Duren said. “Somebody can go on eBay and type in an item and the world is at their fingertips. You can do it from your sofa in pajamas so you don’t even have to go out.”
Another trend she’s seen is dealers going online to sell their wares — something that she plans to do. She said once she gets settled in Tennessee she’ll probably go to estate sales and garage sales to find the perfect treasures and then sell small things online.
Ramona Chamber of Commerce President Paul Zawilenski said one antique store closing does not mean that other surrounding businesses will be affected.
“It’s unfortunate when a business decides to close their doors for whatever reason,” Zawilenski said. “I don’t think the closure of one business will impact in a larger way other businesses on Main Street because people will come visit other businesses. It opens an opportunity for another business to come in and thrive on our Main Street in Ramona.”
The Chamber has been working with state and local authorities on ways of making it affordable to open or expand a business in Ramona, Zawilenski said. Those efforts include lowering fees and finding grants and loans to their efforts, he said.
“Ramona is still a vibrant local business community and we our businesses,” said Zawilenski. “We have a new restaurant opening where Amici’s used to be, we have local eateries opening or expanding, and antique stores that are opening or moving to bigger locations.”
The Lymans say they will miss the interactions they had with their customers and dealers, some of whom would bring them flowers, treats and one who made them COVID masks. Every day was different, with dealers continuously bringing in new things to sell, they said.
Laura Lyman said one thing that made her happy was when the dealers sold something that evoked a special memory for the buyer.
Bob Lyman will continue to work at his other job for now, and the Ramona residents of 17 years said they’ll consider moving to Maine to retire. They have no plans to open another antique business, they said.
“I want to thank everybody for ing us,” Laura Lyman said. “Instead of being a business owner I’ll be a customer now.”
