Schoolhouse Antiques in Palmyra celebrates 7-year anniversary

Schoolhouse Antiques in Palmyra celebrated its seven-year anniversary with live music, a visit from the Palmyra Greenhouse flower truck, and a raffle on Saturday.

The store is housed in the old high school, which closed in 1915, at 103 N. College St.

It is owned by Rebecca Drye and her husband, Matt. Drye said they put together the annual anniversary events to celebrate the business and the community it has created.

She said the two of them always loved going to antique stores, and it was her husband’s idea to open a space of their own when the College Street property became available.

“I was a stay-at-home mom, and the building had been open for quite a while, and he just thought it’d be the perfect place for an antique store,” she said. “He was right. I was really opposed to it at first. I thought it was a huge gamble. What did we know about running a business? There was a lot of work to do in a very short amount of time, and I was really opposed to it, but he was right, and this is fantastic.”

She said they had two months after purchasing it to get everything up and running. Employing their families to help clean, paint, and construct booths, they managed to get vendors moved in to open at the end of September.

“I’ll never do it again,” she said. “It was the most insane thing. I don’t know how we got it done.”

But they did. And they now have 80 booths housing over 70 different vendors and a rentable event space on the third floor.

Customers walking through the building can find what Drye called an “eclectic” collection of goods — vintage clothing, old vinyl records, decor, kitchenware, sports memorabilia, kids toys, and more. She said they put a lot of effort into ensuring there’s a wide variety of antiques for people of all ages and interests.

The vendors have also formed their own community within the space, according to Drye and vendor Lance McNear, who has a booth with his wife downstairs. The two sell jewelry and handmade wooden goods.

McNear said he’s had his booth for four years now, and it’s the relaxed atmosphere that keeps him coming back.

“People are always nice in the way they treat us,” he said. “We come in, and it’s just nice to get around and meet people, talk to them. Other vendors give us different ideas, and everyone helps each other out.”

He said he’s working full-time but hopes to continue his work at Schoolhouse Antiques after retirement.

Drye said their vendors are mainly retired or work full-time and antique as a hobby. She said she was surprised by how quickly the vendor community came together.

“It’s the coolest thing, and I don’t think we could have anticipated how many friends we met through this, and it’s such a cool, collaborative, creative process,” she said. “I’ve learned so much from them, and they’re just the greatest group to work with.”

She said she doesn’t entirely know how it happened, but thinks it’s because the business is family-owned. Her kids have grown up around the businesses, and vendors have gone through their own life changes while working in the building.

Schoolhouse Antiques is looking to the future while reflecting on the past. The Dryes have plans to build more booths and continue supporting the Palmyra community by holding events, sponsoring local sports teams, and donating.

“It’s a great, welcoming town, and being part of it, with being kind of the caretaker of this building that’s so important to everyone, you feel like you owe it to people to still be contributing and part of it,” Drye said.