Visitors Guide to Reno's Best Antiques
Treasures from Past Eras Add Variety to Reno Shopping
Oct 11, 2008
Visitors who enjoy hunting for antiques and collectibles won’t be disappointed with Reno. Northern Nevada’s largest city is a great place for poking about to find relics of the past.
Antique Stores
Gone are the days when antique stores occupied quaint Reno houses. Today, most of the dealers find that renting a stall at an antiques mall is more profitable for them. However, a few individual businesses remain. Among them, Somewhere in Time (1513 S. Virginia St.), is located on the other side of the street directly opposite the entrance of Reno’s largest antiques conglomerate. Aquatic Antiques (3434 Lakeside Drive) is housed inside a store where aquariums and accessories and sold.
Antiques are also surprise finds at the city's more than a dozen thrift shops and at the annual Physicians' Spouses Rummage Sale.
Virginia Street Antique Mall
The city’s largest concentration of Nevada antiques and memorabilia dealers is located at The Virginia Street Antique Mall (1251 S. Virginia St.). Some of the approximately 100 dealers with stalls in the building specialize in books, coins, art or memorabilia from a specific period. Most of them, however, display a potpourri of material ranging from ceramic figurines to wooden-handled kitchen utensils. Best time to visit the mall is on Mondays, when dealers bring in the merchandise they’ve acquired at auctions and yard sales held during the previous weekend. One entrepreneur features only a few items that are more than 60 years old. However, Rose Marie’s “Biggest Little Hat Shop in Reno” and her clothing stall are adored by “ladies of a certain age.” Every item – from sequined apparel, feather boas, and jewelry to dozens of hats – is either red or purple.
Antiques & Treasures Downtown Mall
Housed in an historic business building constructed in the early 20th century, Antiques and Treasures Downtown (151 N. Sierra St.) is Reno’s newest antique mall. With 50 sellers and more than 17,000 square feet of floor space, the main floor, mezzanine and lower level of the building are brightly illuminated and upbeat. Quality of the collectibles in the stalls – sheriff’s badges, a 1930s Frigidaire, baseball cards, carousel horses, cash registers et al – is generally high. Customers searching for 1930s and ‘40s costume jewelry will be especially pleased with the large quantity on display. Even people not especially enamored with antiques will enjoy looking at the gaming memorabilia and collectibles, such as Coca Cola dolls and Jack Armstrong De-coders.
Antiquarian Books
While Reno is not the place to go in search of rare books (try San Francisco or Portland), several of the booksellers at both the Virginia Street Antique Mall and Antiques & Treasures Downtown Mall handle small selections of old books.
Antiques Auctions
Anchor Auctions (601 E. Fourth St.) is one of the larger auction houses in Reno. Although most of Anchor’s auctions involve large estates, the company has been in charge of auctioning the entire contents of former hotel/casinos and one of the largest collections of antique slot machines in Nevada. Auctions are announced on the firm’s website, along with photos of articles to be auctioned, which usually include antiques.
Lightening Auctions (870 Rock Blvd., Sparks) is another auction house that holds auctions in its building, generally with merchandise previews scheduled and catalogues available prior to the sales. In addition to conducting estate sales, the company frequently handles U. S. government vehicle auctions.
Private Estate Sales
Occasionally, estate sales are conducted in the owners’ private residences. The best way to find out about these sales is through the Reno Gazette Journal or searching for Reno Estate Sales on the Internet.
