Benny Westcott
Collectors and antique hobbyists have a new spot in Sweet Home to revel at relics of a bygone era.
In July, Debbie and Russ Adams, a local retired couple, took a property on 1225 12th Avenue that formerly housed, at different times, a Trailways bus station, a dance studio, and then a church, and made it into something else entirely – Debbie’s Oldies But Goodies store.
Debbie and Russ aren’t new to the business. They’ve been collecting and selling antiques for 40 years.
When they were first married they used to do flea markets. “We started that way and then just started learning, and then just kept learning as we went,” Debbie said.
They did it in John Day for 15 years and then moved to Sweet Home 18 years ago and continued the practice, doing shows periodically while holding down other jobs.
They decided to open the business because “we had all this inventory in our house,” Debbie Adams said. “We had a space in Lincoln City about two years ago, but two and a half hours over and two and a half hours back was just too much.
“It’s something that he and I can do together in our retirement,” she added, referring to herself and her husband. “We share this interest.”
Adams had been watching the building for a while and discovered that nobody was renting it. She got hold of the owner and purchased the space to open the business.
“This is basically all ours,” she said while standing in the store. “There’s no consignments. There’s no renting spaces. This is our merchandise.”
And a wide variety of merchandise it is. Antiques, collectibles, glass, primitives, kitchen supplies, toys, records, signs, and furniture, to name a few categories. All of the items are old, of course – and that’s the idea.
“It’s basically a little bit of everything,” Adams said. “And a lot of glassware, cause that was my addiction. I really love the old Fenton Glass, and we’ve got a couple of really nice hand blown Russian pieces.”
The Adams get their goods from estate sales, auctions, and just generally traveling around the local area. “We both have an eye of what we think will sell, and usually what we pick out does. We’ve done it for so long,” Debbie said.
She was collecting dolls with her mom in the 70s and 80s, but “dolls are a dog right now, they don’t sell.” But despite this apparent downtick in the doll market, business is good. “I’ve been doing pretty well,” Adams said. “The locals have been really awesome. It’s a delight to buy something and then have somebody else appreciate it when I sell it to them.”
When asked about her favorite items in the store, she said “I am partial to vintage oak furniture. But finding it is getting harder, because there was that phase when everybody painted everything.”
Adams’ most recent job before this was at Thriftway in town. She has also done real estate part time while in Sweet Home. Her husband Russ is a retired contractor.
Debbie’s Oldies But Goodies is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
After all these years devoted to her hobby, Adams continues to marvel at the staying power of the antiques she enjoys.
“I don’t want to collect plastic,” she says. “All the new stuff, it’s throw-away. The vintage items last forever.”