By the numbers
A look at key figures regarding antiques sales in Springfield
194,000
Combined square feet of permanent space dedicated to collectibles at three antiques malls
$103 million
Local estimated annual economic impact
200,000
People estimated to pass through Heart of Ohio’s doors each year, including collectors from Japan and China
SPRINGFIELD — People routinely come to Springfield from as far away as Japan and China in order to own mementos of the nation’s past.
Hundreds of thousands of collectors bring with them as much as $103 million every year for the local economy, by one official estimate.
Springfield has had a combined 194,000 square feet of permanent space dedicated to collectibles at three antiques malls since the 1990s — that’s larger than two Clark State Performing Arts Centers — plus monthly antique shows and the open-air Antiques Extravaganza three times a year.
“It’s become a real calling card for Springfield,” said Chris Schutte, director of marketing for the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“It’s absolutely big dollars,” said Schutte, a former antiques dealer himself.
It’s not known for certain just how much money is injected into Clark County’s economy by antiquers, many of whom cross state lines and even oceans to shop here.
Locally, tourism has an annual economic impact of $310 million, according to Schutte.
“I would have to think that maybe as much of a third of that could be attributed to the antique draw,” he said.
But, unlike other famous antiquing destinations, the antiques business here is a lot like the stuff in your grandma’s attic — it very quietly appreciated in value.
“We’ve always known antiques were an attraction,” Schutte said, “but I don’t think we knew quite to what level it was.”
Bruce Knight, owner and president of the giant Heart of Ohio Antique Center, has experienced it firsthand.
“We occasionally get people come in and say, ‘I had no idea this was here,’ ” said Knight, a Springfield native.
At 116,000 square feet, the 14-year-old business at the Interstate 70/U.S. 40 interchange employs 48 people, and is touted as the nation’s largest antique mall.
“Springfield is known for antiques,” Schutte said, “but not in the same way that Waynesville is. Waynesville is known for antiques, but also for its quaint antique shops.
“Springfield is a destination for antiquing.”
In other words, they have the charm — we have the volume.
Named in 2006 by Martha Stewart Living magazine as a top spot nationally for antiques and collectibles, Heart of Ohio is a frequent destination for antiquers from Japan, in particular, in addition to a growing number from China. According to Becky Krieger, general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Springfield, “there’s no question,” that antiquing is good for the local hotel.
The hotel offers a special rate for people attending the antique shows at the Clark County Fairgrounds.
Sharon Lemmer, of Shepherd, Mich., stopped Wednesday at Heart of Ohio on her way to Florida.
“I saw it on the Internet,” she said as she browsed. “I’ll be back.”
Lemmer collects carnival glass and Camark pottery, and she found plenty of things she wanted.
“It’s hard not to in a place this big,” she said.
But, while the whole world seems to equate Springfield, Ohio, with antiques, not everyone at home makes the same correlation.
“Most of our customers are not from this area,” said Vivalyn Knight, Bruce’s wife and vice president of the business.
An estimated 200,000 people each year pass through Heart of Ohio’s doors, according to Ernie Jarrell, the mall’s general manager.
The favorable exchange rate for currency in recent years has made it a hotspot for foreign antiquers.
“They go crazy,” Vivalyn Knight said. “They buy suitcases and fill them up.
“We’ve shipped lots of boxes straight to Japan for people.”
Marta Wojcik, executive director and curator of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Westcott House on East High Street, wants to promote her museum more heavily at the antique malls and the monthly shows.
Of the 8,400 visitors last year to Westcott, up to 90 percent came from outside Clark County.
“It’s a great audience and great potential,” Wojcik said.
Heart of Ohio declined to release sales figures “due to the competitive nature of antique malls,” Jarrell said.
Springfield’s two other antique malls are located just several miles away along I-70 as well.
“It’s like having all the car dealers in one area,” Jarrell said. “Someone’s going to buy a Chevy, someone’s going to buy a Jaguar.
“It’s good for Springfield, and it’s good for antiques.”
The competition, however, might soon be lessened some.
The 46,000-square-foot Springfield Antique Center, 1735 Titus Road, has purchased the nearby I-70 Antique Mall on South Charleston Pike.
Owner Bryan J. Krick, of Findlay, bought the I-70 Antique Mall in February for $615,000, according to the Clark County Auditor’s Office.
Krick couldn’t be reached for comment by the Springfield News-Sun after repeated attempts to speak with him about his plans.
Those two malls, according to Bruce Knight, initially opened in the early ’90s to feed off crowds pouring into the monthly Springfield Antique Show and Flea Market at the fairgrounds.
Three times a year — May, July and September — the show transforms into the Antiques Extravaganza, with more than 2,500 dealers and crowds of 20,000.
Knight created the show in 1969, starting with just 40 dealers at the fairgrounds.
By 1998, citing the stress of dealing with the weather month after month, he sold the show and ventured into the climate-controlled mall business with Heart of Ohio, with the late Dick Kuss as financial partner.
But the outdoor show, it would seem, has become an institution.
In 2006, Country Living magazine featured the show in a five-page story, and has named it one of “America’s best antique shows.”
It’s estimated each Extravaganza puts close to $3 million into the local economy, Schutte said.
That figure is determined using a formula supplied by the state that suggests, on average, a day-tripper spends $107 in a local area; an overnight guest spends $213.
Last spring, Schutte said, the CVB placed a print ad in Country Living targeting the May Extravaganza and promoting Springfield as an antiquing destination.
Admittedly, the ad exceeded his expectations and confirmed what everyone suspected — that antiques are big.
“Our site stats just spiked,” he said.
The CVB’s VisitSpringfield Ohio.com site logged 4,000 unique visitors last May alone, he said.
“I’m literally still getting reader response,” he said.
A collector of sporting antiquities like Scottish golf clubs and cricket bats, Schutte himself had a booth to sell antiques at last September’s Extravaganza, providing for a unique perspective into the local antiques phenomenon.
“I was virtually sold out by Sunday,” he said.
His most expensive wares sold within the show’s first three hours, he said.
Between the monthly shows and the indoor malls, Springfield’s status as an antiques destination is perhaps best summed up by Jarrell, general manager at Heart of Ohio.
“If you can’t find it in Springfield,” Jarrell joked, “it probably doesn’t exist.”
Contact this reporter at amcginn@coxohio.com.
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