‘Right place for right person’: Antique store for sale about passion, community

A pair of antique store owners are ready to part with their entire collection along with their shop. CTV News Edmonton's Curtis Goodrum has their story.

The owners of an antique store in a town southwest of Edmonton are looking for the right buyer to take over their business.

Melody Sommerfeld and Dale Michaud have put up Yesterday’s Treasure Market for sale.

They set up shop eight years ago on 50 Avenue, Calmar’s main street, in a historic building, at first filling it with stuff they had collected over the years then built up an inventory of tens of thousands of items.

The place is a treasure hunt of sorts, with collectibles ranging from old housewares and hardware to toys and magazines.

“When you walk around, you see an artifact that you remember from your childhood, from grandma’s house or your auntie’s house, and you’re immediately drawn back to that feeling you had,” Sommerfeld told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday.

Calmar is 38 kilometres southwest of the city.

While their shared enthusiasm for antiques remains, the business partners are selling the store to focus on other projects.

“We want the store to be sold to somebody that considers this to be a treasure,” Michaud said. “This is the right place for the right person, just like this item is the right thing for you today, whatever you’re taking home. Those elements cross over and they turn into something that I believe is a really fantastic thing.”

Besides the asking price of $500,000, the pair asks one other requirement of the next owner: a passion for it and for the community, qualities Michaud says is needed or else Yesterday’s Treasure Market won’t succeed.

“It’s about enjoying the quality of life that comes with the community that’s based in relationships,” he said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Curtis Goodrum