Antiquified
is a term coined by Tigger, the tiger in a Winnie the Pooh video.
Gubbin
believes her antiques career was an answer to prayer. She wanted to change
careers after the birth of her second child.
“I wanted
to do something that made me feel like I was playing, something I enjoyed,
something that would give me more time with my children,” said Gubbin.
She
prayed for what to do an answer came, “Stop telling your sister to start an
antique store and start one yourself.”
“As silly
as it was, those words were like a revelation, because although I loved
antiques, I never thought about antiques as a business. So I didn’t question the answer I received,
but instead I immediately went to a garage sale where I found a leaded lamp
shade for $5.00 and purchased it. A
month later I sold it at Historical Fragments in Otsego for $75.00. At that point I started to do everything I
could to learn about this business,” added Gubbin.
The opening of her 1750-square-foot shop on
two floors at 1519 Central
Avenue in Art District of
Northeast Minneapolis is the culmination of 10 years in the antiques business.
She started with booths at Yours, Mine and Ours in Anoka and Historical
Fragments near Elk River.
She
describes her shop as an uncluttered, refreshing variety of glassware,
furniture, Black Americana, jewelry, porcelain, toys and dolls.
The
building that houses Antiquified is known as the Alamo Building
because it looks like the Mexican War fortress. It was actually built 100 years
ago with limestone by the Imperial Tractor Company.
“The
building sat vacant for seven years when I stumbled across it. I knew without a doubt this was the place for
me. With much preservation help, too
much money and a lot of man hours we were able to restore much of the
building. Even the windows you now see
were once cemented shut. People need to
believe that their dream can come true if they don’t give up. From the time I found the Alamo Building,
it took four years for the project to come together. So in reality, it’s more of a
‘Thank-God-we’re-finally- open event,’” concluded Gubbin.
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