Antiques Supermarket - Antique Shipment Testimonials

TESTIMONIALS

Dear David,

We are glad to tell you that the shipment of furniture arrived at our store on Thursday morning. For some time we had made plans to be in North Carolina this week. Therefore, we made arrangements with our employees to handle the arrival of the furniture at our store. Our labour force was able to unload it in only one and a half hours, well within the two hours allowed.

According to our people, every piece of furniture was wrapped exceptionally well and arrived in good condition. Now that we are back in Nashville, we are very pleased with the selection of furniture that you made. It was a nice mix and the piano was a very real surprise. Thank you, David for the careful way it was wrapped.

Kindest regards

Betty and Joe

Joe's Emporium

The Story of Joe's Emporium Joe Martinek came to Canada from Czechoslovakia in the early 1950s. Shortly after his arrival he acquired an interest in collecting early Canadian antiques. In 1964 he married his wife, Brenda, and they would go to auctions together. Both had an eye for rare and unusual collectibles. In 1985 Joe & Brenda started an antique business, the Village Shop. It consisted of one room full of century pine furniture as well as some casual clothing and ski & tennis wear. In 1988, after spotting an advertisement in a magazine, they decided to take a trip to England where they spent 2 weeks picking out pieces from an antique exporter. While in England they stayed 50 miles outside of Liverpool at the estate of Coton Hall which was the home of the exporter, Leslie Swainbank. Joe & Brenda purchased approximately 250 pieces of English and Welsh pine furniture some of which were dated from the 17th century. Half of the collection came from the estate of the Seventh Viscount Clegg Hill of Coton Hall whose ancestor, the First Viscount Roland Hill, was an artillery commander in the Battle of Waterloo fighting alongside the chief commander, the Duke of Wellington. The other half of the many valuable antiques, including some museum pieces, came from the area surrounding Coton Hall. The collection included an 1855 Irish chicken coop dresser which is a flat to the wall cupboard with top shelves used to store dishes and a bottom cut out lattice with two compartments used to store the owner's chickens. Another rare antique was a 1780 English cheese table used to hold large rounds of cheese. Mr. Swainbank arranged for a 40 foot container filled with Joe & Brenda's purchases to be shipped from the English port at Flexistove (near London) by the Russian ship, Repina, to Montreal. From there the container was brought to Collingwood by transport where a Canadian Customs officer waited to inspect the treasures. After the trip to England, in 1989, another room was added to the shop to handle Joe's collection. Joe & Brenda continued to acquire antiques by travelling to markets including the largest antique market in Brimfield, Mass. Pieces were also purchased at auctions and from antique pickers who would come from Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. In 1992, a third room was added to the shop making it approximately 3000 sq ft. Sadly, Joe passed away this past January. The shop was Joe's life passion and anyone who entered through the door would tell you that Joe was a charismatic, humorous and generous man. He was also an excellent sales man although he was usually more interested in swapping stories with his customers than selling to them. He often stayed in the shop later than closing time entertaining his guests. After Joe's passing, the business name was changed to Joe's Emporium in his memory. Joe's Emporium, run by his wife Brenda and his daughter-in-law Stephanie, will honour the legacy of a loving husband, father and friend. In keeping with tradition, the store is open Sat. & Sun. 11am-5pm, midweek by chance and anytime by appointment, 445-6339. We welcome you to come on in, browse and share your stories! Joe's Emporium is located at 796455 Grey Rd. 19, at the base of Blue Mountain Resort's North End, across from Toronto Ski Club.

Stephanie Martinek

Our Aim

Our aim is to sell on low profit margins high volumes of Antique filled containers. We need your custom on a regular basis. We look after our buyers and get repeat orders.

Make your purchase today, "At the REAL DEAL". You really can save money with Antiques Supermarket.