Call it New/Call it Antique

Call it New /​Call it Antique is great visit on a lazy Sunday where you are allowed to wander and take in everything. There is a lot to see and it really has something for everyone. Parking is tight on summer days where the Farmer’s Market occupies the area next door. Don’t fret. You may park in the Library’s or Shopko’s lot and stroll on over. During the winter, parking will not be a problem.
I’ve been to this establishment several times and have not experienced that the associates «stalk» me. They are helpful and will ask if you had questions or ask if they could hold something for you while you continue to shop. There are plenty of cameras. It’s not a good idea to bring younger children. I’ve noticed that the sales associates tend to keep their eyes more on groups.
As other reviews indicated, the items are separated into stalls and it’s sprawled through three stories and a basement of goods ranging from collectible toys, to collectible coins, jewelry, and vintage items. I took a star off because they consider themselves an antique shop, not a secondhand, therefore the pricing is on the high side. Like $ 200 for a typewriter or $ 10 for a Valentine’s card, yeah that’s pushing it.
I took another star off because it’s really unorganized and so overwhelming. I just wished they had their items separated into departments so I don’t have to go through all the floors to find the one item I’m looking for. Although I’ve never purchased anything from here, I still like to visit on my lazy days.

This is a really fun store. Sprawling three stories, it’s still fairly easy to navigate. For me, it’s more fun to just look at everything than to do much real shopping, but I have found some great and unique pieces of art that I love having in my house.
The staff, at times, has felt a tad too big brother keeping an eye on everyone, but I do get it. There’s so much merchandise here that I understand them being watchful. Still, it’s a little bit off putting.
The consignment part of the store is pretty nice too. Nothing extra special compared to any other thrift store, but it’s cool to be able to check it out in addition to the antiques.

This resale shop is located downtown Steven Point. It is classey, quality items and friendly staff and on top of it all a well managed store. The store is organized and clean, I have both bought and sold and have had any good experiences. When you are downtown check it out.

The store is broken up into stalls. The store is laid out such that store employees much constantly walk around from floor to floor and monitor customers. I never thought that this practice was odd, since I have certainly seen other customers who have broken items and have shown general disrespect for the store. I had assumed that these were the customers that the store would have been most interested in «monitoring», though this whole monitoring thing has actually become to seem quite creepy to me the more I think about it.
Here is where my story comes in. One week ago, I was banned from this store. I felt as if I were in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, except that it wasn’t funny. It was humiliating.
My husband and I have always enjoyed this store. We take our family members here when they visit. We bought quite a few pieces of mid-​century modern furniture in the store, especially when we moved into our new house. I have bought countless other items there as well such as: a watch, a necklace, records, clothes, art… etc
Last week, my husband was not feeling well, so I rode my bike to the antique mall to spend some time looking around, as I often do. I like browsing their three floors of antiques. I’m the kind of person who loves to browse, and I look for good deals, even though I have the option of buying more expensive items. I have always loved thrift shopping, ever since I can remember.
I should also say that when I shop, I frequently keep to myself. I don’t always like to have to engage in long conversations with salespeople while browsing. That’s just my «shopping personality».
That day, as I am browsing the store, I get the feeling that one of the employees is following me. I start to get creeped out, so I decided to wrap it up and leave. On my way out of the store, the owner steps in front of me.
(The conversation went something like this. These are not exact quotes):
«Excuse me, Miss. I’m afraid that you will no longer be allowed to shop in this store anymore. We just don’t trust you.»
I was dumbfounded.
I kept looking at his face to see if he was about to laugh or crack a smile.
«Are – are you kidding?»
The owner’s face didn’t even twitch. No smile here.
«No, I’m not kidding. We have been watching you for some time now, in fact. Whenever you come into the store, you are always by yourself. You browse for a long time, but you never purchase anything. We – the other employees and I – have decided that we simply don’t have the staff to monitor you anymore.»
Me: «Wait…so you’ve discussed this amongst yourselves?»
Owner: «Yes.»
This had now become more surreal, if that were even possible.
Me: «My husband and I have bought a ton of things here. We just moved into a house down the street and I like to walk here.» I could barely believe what I was saying.
Owner: «We have never seen you buy an item. If you would like to show us credit card statements, or…»
I told him that I would call my husband. I was now shaking.
It’s as if I had entered into some horrible episode of the Twilight Zone in which my identity has been erased.
I was not even allowed to wait inside the store for my husband to arrive.
«I will have to ask you to leave the store. You will have to wait for him outside.»
I was still in shock and very angry, but complied. As I sat down on the bench outside, I burst into tears.
A few minutes later, my husband arrived at the store. He was angry but he remained calm.
The owner re-​explained the reasoning behind his decision to ban me to my husband. «We simply feel that we cannot monitor your wife anymore.»
My husband asked why the store would possibly have to monitor me.
Owner: «We simply feel that we can’t trust her.»
My husband: «But why?»
The owner could not – or would not – answer this question directly. But there seemed to be only one implication.
My husband: «I can see how you may have misinterpreted her behavior. But you are making a huge mistake.»
Owner: «Well, I hope that I am. But that still won’t change my position.»
The owner proceeded to explain how my shopping habits were «odd», that because I continued to browse without purchasing anything, I was no longer welcome in the store. They did not trust me.
At this point, I was super creeped out by the idea that they had been monitoring my every move for the last… who knows how long. This sort of thing had never happened to me in a retail setting. In fact, I used to work in retail when I was in college.
This entire incident made no sense, and it was insulting.
Overall, I do not feel that the owner ever directly apologized for his accusations – only for putting us into an awkward situation.
Obviously, I would not return to this business! In any case, I would at least hope that my story would be enough to make others think twice…