An antique mall is expected to open in the former 34,000-square-foot Shop ‘n Save store in High Ridge on Nov. 21, promising hours of shopping fun, said owner Chad Lane.
JeffCo Antique Mall is located at 1023 Crossroads Plaza, next to the Aldi grocery store.
Lane, of Overland, has two other stores in the area, the St. Louis Antique Mall on St. Charles Rock Road and the West County Antique Mall in Ellisville. He said the community reception to the JeffCo Antique Mall has been “killer.”
“The High Ridge community, and the broader JeffCo community, is awesome,” Lane said. “Like truly the definition of the word ‘community.’ I’ve been (sharing information about the new location) on social media from my phone, right? Like, my thumbs have gone numb because I’m trying to answer people’s messages so quickly.”
Before opening the St. Louis Antique Mall in 2021, Lane owned a marketing company helping promote small businesses. Lane said his experience in marketing helped him launch a social media presence for his antique malls; the West County Antique Mall recently celebrated its two-year anniversary.
Lane said his decision to open a third location was partly due to new trends in the antiquing industry.
“I’ve seen a huge trend toward the vintage space recently in the 20- and 30-year-olds,” he said. “It’s just blown up the market. The demand is higher than I’ve ever seen it for things like physical media, things like vintage clothing, unique items, and I think people are drawn to it for a variety of reasons.”
Lane said thrifting and antiquing is economical for many people, and also is eco-conscious with thrifters saving items that otherwise would have ended up in a landfill.
Lane said he’s a longtime collector, starting in his childhood when his mother “dragged” him to antique malls, garage sales and yard sales.
“I carried that through into my adulthood, and then eventually, what happened is my wife (Stephanie) and I discovered that we had too many items in our house, and so we opened our first antique booth at a location in St. Louis city,” Lane said. “That place was going to shut down, so we bought it, rebranded it and relaunched it.”
The JeffCo Antique Mall will have vendors’ booths with unique vintage items, Lane said, in addition to trendy collectibles, like Pokémon trading cards, and hand-crafted goods.
“What I try to do with my malls is provide a location that anybody, no matter who they are, can find something. I prefer my mall to be more eclectic,” he said.
The High Ridge location can fit up to 300 vendors’ booths, and the mall is accepting applications, Lane said. He called the mall a “perfect size.”
“People will be able to walk through it in a few hours and not get overly tired, but still experience a tremendous amount of items,” he said.
The mall is still hiring employees as well, Lane said. Those interested can email Mike McCollum, general manager, at mike@antiquemallstlouis.com.
Store hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
For information, visit thejeffcoantiquemall.com or the JeffCo Antique Mall Facebook page.