MAKE AN OFFER — That’s what Wayne Wenzel, left, says of the antiques remaining at Dad’s Good Stuff on Broadway Ave. in New Richland. After Jan. 1, Wenzel plans on closing the antiques portion of the business, but will still remain open for furniture repair, building and repairing windows and selling house paint and supplies. Star Eagle photo by Melanie Piltingsrud
By MELANIE PILTINGSRUD
Staff Writer
“January first, I'm going to lock the door,” says Wayne Wenzel of the antique shop, Dad's Good Stuff.
“The front,” he qualifies. Those who know Wenzel well know that friends, and customers who want their furniture and screens repaired, use the back door anyway.
The Wenzel antique business has been around for a long time. According to Wenzel, his wife, Merlys, used to run it in the old Peterson grocery store. “And then that building was condemned, so we had to move,” says Wenzel. He was in Starke, Florida on a trip with his trucking business when Bernie Anderson called to ask if he wanted the building on the southwest corner of Broadway Ave. and Division St. Wenzel told him, “Bernie, I just bought a brand new truck and two new trailers. Do you think I can afford it?” Per Wenzel, Anderson replied, “We'll talk about the money later. We don't care about the money. Do you want that building or don't you?”
Wenzel and Anderson walked through the building upon Wenzel's return. It was such a mess upstairs that Anderson got sick to his stomach. The previous owners hadn't cleaned anything and signs of their dogs remained.
“So I got this building. I paid for it, and I got it cheap,” says Wenzel.
Merlys and a number of the couple's friends cleaned the place. “Then we redecorated the whole upstairs. That's how it got started. Then we moved all of our stuff down here.
“I'm working back there, and people come in and look,” says Wenzel of why he decided to discontinue the antiques part of the business. “They've got their wife or husband at the dentist or down at the grocery store or at the drug store or someplace, and they're just wasting time. And so, then I have cleaned up and come up here to wait on them, and they don't want anything. They're just looking. And that's the way New Richland stuff is; it's slow here. It isn't Red Wing.”
Wenzel still plans to repair furniture, build and repair screens and windows, and sell house paint and supplies, but the antiques are going out the door. Wenzel's skills are so well known that he doesn't need to advertise. Per Wenzel, “I'd have enough to keep me busy.”
What's he going to do with all that empty space? He's going to spread out his wood working equipment, such as saws and sanders, “So I've got plenty of room to move around,” he says.
Tim and Jocelyn Steele, Merlys's niece, are helping to sell merchandise at the front of the store, while Wenzel continues his repair jobs in the back. “We're uncovering stuff that we had no idea we had,” says Tim. Among the many antiques at “Dad's Good Stuff” are a couple of radios from the 1930s, a myriad of kerosene lamps, a dining room table that doubles as a poker table when the top is removed, an 1880s Murphy bed, and other pieces of furniture and collectibles. Jocelyn is also selling her unique, remade stuffed animals, which have a hidden jar inside, so the kiddies can hide their treasures. Many of the antiques are selling online, but they're accepting any reasonable offer, so get the Good Stuff while you can.
The community will miss browsing the curiosities at Dad's Good Stuff. But they're still sure to find a smile and great conversation in the repair shop.