Located just off Exit 31 on I-95 is a 16,500 square foot “big blue building,” as it is affectionately called locally, which is home to approximately 200 antiques dealers.
Stratford Antique Center has served the area since its founding in 1992 by Kenneth “Kenny” Wynn.
“People thought he was absolutely nuts when he opened this business,” said Stephen McKay, Wynn”™s son-in-law and current owner of Stratford Antique Center, who added that “half the people that said, ”˜We”™ll never leave our merchandise here and have you sell it for us,”™ they all moved in.”
Dealers at the center are afforded a hands-off approach in how they move products, with the center allowing them to drop off their antiques and collectibles at their respective booths, with selling duties falling on the center.
Items on offer at Stratford Antique Center are fairly priced in contrast to other shops, according to McKay.
“My dealers are into moving merchandise. So, if they bought it for $10, if they made $20 on it, they”™re happy. Whereas in other shops, if they bought it for $10, they”™re asking $1,000 for it,” McKay said. “We”™re a mom-and-pop picker”™s place. People can come in here and still buy something, take it somewhere else and resell it, and make another $10.”
Items available for purchase include jewelry, paintings, vinyl records, pottery, clothing, toys, kitchenware and furniture. The assortment of goods is varied enough that people in the theater business swing by the center on occasion, grabbing as much material as they can for use as props in productions.
“I love them ”” they”™re carte blanche,” McKay said. “They send up a truck the next day, pick everything up, then it goes back down to Manhattan or wherever it”™s going to go.”
The arrangement the center has with its dealers is popular enough that many who manage to secure a booth rarely if ever leave, according to McKay. Would-be dealers interested in doing business at the big blue building are placed on a four-to-six-year waitlist.
“Every dealer wants another spot because they do so well,” he said. “I take care of everything for the dealers. They don”™t have to be here.”
Stratford Antique Center may not be the most lucrative business, McKay admitted, but he finds working at the center to be highly fulfilling and rewarding.
“We”™re just one big happy family here,” McKay said. “The business doesn”™t make a lot of money, but it keeps a lot of people happy.”
With October fast approaching, the team at the big blue building is currently preparing for the droves of antique hunters that motor through Connecticut during the peak fall foliage season. While one worker on the floor is enough to attend to customers during the slower summer days, October requires more staff to handle the seasonal shoppers, with three or four people needed on the floor and three or four people behind the counter.
The near future will see the property undergo renovations, with the roof already having work done on it and a more effective heating system having been put in place. McKay plans to have the building repainted in time for the throngs of customers expected next month.
