After nearly 50 years of business, Lindsey's Collectibles in The Plains is planning to close before the end of the year. The vintage and second-hand shop, located at 11 N. Plains Road, sells glassware, vintage jewelry, figurines, stamps and clothing.
The store opened in the late 1970s by Lindsey Johnson and her husband, William Monroe Johnson Jr. The building was originally bought for William Johnson Jr.’s upholstery business, and Lindsey Johnson used the store’s two front rooms to sell the vintage and second-hand items. When William passed away eight years, Lindsey Johnson took over the upholstery space for the shop.
Josie Garcia lives in Logan, Ohio, and visited the shop multiple times with her daughter.
“We were very surprised when we walked in because it is so jam-packed, full of beautiful collectibles,” Garcia said. “I loved that it was a little bit of everything. I feel that anyone could walk in there and walk out with something and find something that they would treasure.”
Vicki Pidcock, Lindsey Johnson’s second-oldest daughter, started working at the store several years ago, helping with pricing and sales. Pidcock said the shop started with her going to yard sales with her older sister and Lindsey Johnson, looking for items to sell. Items in the store also came from estate sales, auctions, donations or things that Lidnsey Johnson’s own children no longer used.
The store ran seven days a week, and Pidcock said they closed for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“I’m not very good at sitting around,” Lindsey Johnson said. “We enjoy every holiday, and we try to have a lot of nice stuff.”
Lindsey Johnson, now 89 years old, suffered a broken ankle after a fall two years ago. The shop’s hours were limited following the fall. The store is now open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“It's difficult for her to manage the store by herself,” Pidcock said. “One of us has to be here with her.”
Pidcock said it is also difficult to have someone at the shop with her mom at all times, so she and her siblings mentioned closing.
“The oldest daughter just turned 70 this year, and I turned 68; we're getting up there in years too,” Pidcock said. “My sister still teaches at Hocking part time, and my brothers have their own jobs.”
Pidcock said it took Johnson some time to adjust to the idea of closing down her shop.
“This has been her life for almost 50 years; she can come up here and move things around, this is her place,” Pidcock said. “It’s going to be a change for her.”
With the closure, Pidcock said she hopes to plan family gatherings with Johnson’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren to give her something to look forward to.
“She and my father, they worked all the time,” Pidcock said. “She’s used to that; she can’t understand why people are not working.”
Pidcock said Johnson will miss socializing with her customers the most when they close shop.
“People come in the store, and they would often tell her what a nice little shop she has and they enjoy the variety,” Pidcock said. “My dad and mom would talk to them, they would come in and joke around with them, that was their socialization during the day.”
The store is currently selling many items at a 50% discount. Pidcock said anything that does not sell before the store closes will likely be donated to charity or offered for free.
