Antique Gallery Vendor Profile

Every so often we will feature a different vendor from the Antique Gallery. It is simply a brief conversation to help us all get to know our vendors a little better. This month we have chosen to feature Terry & Jan Hartzler. They are located in spaces 121 and 122 in the Gallery.

Gallery: How long have you been in the antique business?
Vendor: Right around 35 years.

Gallery: How many other malls are you in and where?
Vendor: We are in two other malls besides the gallery, The Creamery in Middlebury, IN as well as Heart’s Desire located in Elkhart, IN.

Gallery: Do you do shows, if so how many and what’s your favorite show?
Vendor: We do about 10 shows a year and all of them are our favorite show.

Gallery: What’s your specialty or what do you like to feature in your booth?
Vendor: We started out in oak furniture, but now do a little bit of this and that. Quality speaks to us. We also feature what we like to call man stuff, lodge type stuff.

Gallery: What do you like to collect?
Vendor: A little bit of everything, whatever looks nice in the house. We don’t have a million of any one thing.

Gallery: Do you have hobbies outside of antiques?
Vendor: We follow our local high school basketball team, like yard work and vintage cars, especially vets. I’ve owned several over the years.

Gallery: How did you get interested in antiques?
Vendor: When my great uncle passed away we went to his auction and he had a lot of antiques. That’s how we got started.

Gallery: What do you like about our mall?
Vendor: We have fun with everyone there. It’s a quality mall.

Gallery: What do you see in the future in the business of antiques?
Vendor: We have to work harder to make the money. The younger generation seems less interested in antiques than us old timers. We have to change our business to include their interests.