Billed as the antiques capital of the Midwest, tiny Waynesville, Ohio is struggling with several factors that threaten the town's main attraction. Merchants say changing tastes, the availability of antiques on the Internet and a notable drop in consumer spending after the terror attacks of September Eleventh all challenge the town's way of life.
Founded by Quakers in 1797, Waynesville sits at the junction of Routes 73 and 42 in Southwest Ohio. The town of about three-thousand people consists of two traffic lights and a main street lined with quaint antique shops.
In its heyday during the 1980's and nineties, tourists and collectors flocked to the town in search of readily-available, reasonably-priced antiques. But urban sprawl, Waynesville sits between Dayton and Cincinnati, changing consumer tastes and considerably higher priced antiques have changed that according to Barbara Lindsey of the Waynesville Chamber of Commerce. She says merchants are strggling to hang on to their shops and their way of life.
Antiques dealer Betty Maudlinn agrees. The owner of a shop called American Pie, Maudlin says she too has seen a drop in income during the past few years. Maudlin says competition is growing over a dwindling supply of antiques. She says she has seen changes in the way people spend money since the terror attacks of September eleventh.
John Pergum of Brass Lantern Antiques agrees change is coming to Waynesville. Along with other merchants Pergum notes the diversification of shops now popping up around town. Pergam predicts Waynesville will see more arts shops in the future.
Restaurant owner Rick Weber is a relative newcomer to Waynesville. He built and opened the Cobblestone Cafe and business center after selling a llucrative manufacturing company. Weber traded his business suits for khakis and his expensive car for a pick-up truck. Weber's wife Brenda operates a home decor shop in the front half of the cafe. Weber says the couple has swapped out the country items they used to sell for more sophisticated items and sales are picking up.
Weber is optimistic about the future of Waynesville. He says the high cost of gasoline actually helps by forcing vacation travelers to stay closer to home visiting towns like Waynesville, nearby Ceasar Creek State Park and amusement parks on the opposite end of the county instead of taking longer car trips.
Longtime antiques dealer Bill Stubbs has operated the Little Red Shed antiques store in Waynesville for thrity-eight years. He thinks change is inevitable. But the retired school teacher says he plans to stay in the antiques business until he retires again. Stubbs says his mother sold antiques up until she died at the age of ninety-two. He says he'll follow in her footsteps.
The US Census Bureau says the population of Warren County, home to Waynesville, has grown twenty-six-point6-four percent since 2000. And town residents don't see that slowing down anytime soon. But the merchants of Waynesville hope to strike a delicate balance incorporating growth and diversity while saving their little town's long held traditions.