photo by J. Sinclair

For an antiques and collectibles enthusiast — or even the casual shopper of things old — a visit to an antiques store can be like a half-hour of heaven.

Multiply that times eight, and you begin to understand the kind of antiquing ecstasy you can anticipate in the compact area around Greensboro’s South Elm Street. It’s all reasonably walkable, with flat terrain and wide sidewalks. And with a little luck, you can park the car one time and browse all the aisles in a couple of hours.

As an antique iron collector who occasionally seeks restoration items for historical houses, I was quite familiar with the large and longstanding Rhyne’s Corner Cupboard, which anchors the corner of South Elm and East Lewis streets.

In business for 33 years, Rhyne’s is a veteran antiques store that stretches more than 6,000 square feet and two buildings — the first was a livery stable and a feed-and-seed store since its construction before 1900; the second structure was a drycleaner for 40 years. Shortly after opening, store owners knocked out walls between the two to spread out.

Rhyne’s, and its pleasant proprietress, Mary Wells, seemed like the perfect jumping-off point for a deeper investigation of Greensboro’s diverse South Elm antiques trail.

“I started this business because of a passion for collecting,” Wells says. That’s pretty obvious. The store has items salvaged from across the state to across the ocean — it even boasts an iron and a large set of doors from India.

“Everything that I’m really passionate about, of course, is at home in my private collection,” she jokes, “but I really like the unusual.” Wells shows off parts of an elevator and a $1,800 self-enclosed phone booth lined with tin as good examples of her varied taste.

Rhyne’s has been around long enough that it has become something of a destination store, not just for the casual shopper, but for interior decorators, restaurants, grocery stores, films, and theaters seeking just the right items. Despite demand, Wells says she prefers to see those customers in the store, rather than in cyberspace. “I’m a hands-on person so I don’t want to sell on the Internet. Besides,” she says with a laugh, “if I put it on the Internet and sold it all, what would I do then?”

After leaving Rhyne’s, I cross Elm and turn right, arriving at four more antiques shops — Lion’s Crown, Jules Antiques and Fine Art, Hampton Antiques, and The Browsery — within a mere 150 paces. Just down the road, Lewis Street Antiques can be added to the list, and within two short blocks are Antiques & Accessories on Elm and the Farmer’s Wife on South Davie.

As this concentrated clump of antiques businesses has progressed, many of the stores have chosen to specialize in certain areas, while a few are more general in nature.

Rhyne’s, for instance, has chiefly decorative and architectural items, but also offers a wide collection of hardware such as door knobs, lock fixtures, hinges, and other essentials for restoring older homes.

Located in a 1903-era building, Farmer’s Wife focuses similarly on furniture, mantels, mirrors, pottery, and other architectural pieces, while the quaint Antiques & Accessories targets jewelry, china, and other household goods.

Meanwhile, The Browsery, which opened in 1979, primarily sells glassware and books in its 2,500 square feet. “We sell mostly books for readers, not highly priced first editions,” owner Ben Matthews notes. “All of our hardbounds are $5 each, and appeal to a range of reader ages.

“If you need to fill a bookcase or gather books from a certain era, we’re the right place for that, too,” he says. For instance, when producers from the movie Lolita needed books published no later than 1959, The Browsery was able to oblige.

Like Rhyne’s, many of these businesses have been in place for some time. Sarah Marr at Hampton Antiques has had her 2,200-square-foot shop for 20 years. “My customers seem to chiefly be here for the furniture,” she says, though she also shows paintings and other fine collectibles.

The newer Jules Antiques and Fine Art has a similar-sized space, plus an upstairs balcony and “the only outdoor, natural courtyard among the shops,” notes Tina Taylor. Owned and operated by Agnes Preston and Gary Brame, Jules “is more like a museum than a store, with items that range from 50 to 400 years old,” Taylor says.

Targeted toward furniture, the shop also has other intriguing bits and pieces. “We seek fine antiques with a unique history from all over the world.” The shop, with its delightful wooden staircase, also complements Preston’s local interior-design business, Metamorphosis.

At Lion’s Crown, Mike Joyce, Robert Wagner, and Archie Carter specialize in English and Continental furniture, along with vintage costume jewelry, an intriguing selection of prints and engravings, and the charming tones of ticking clocks.

Perhaps the most diverse selection of items can be found just one block off South Elm on Lewis Street. Lewis Street Antiques owner Helen Snow has had an antiques store in the area for 35 years, five of those at the Lewis Street location. The extensive, rambling space offers finds mainly from the 1900s.

“It’s a very eclectic shop,” Snow says, referring to the cultural trip customers take wandering through her tables and shelves. “With the current economy, I sometimes find myself buying things from people who just need the rent or gas money or whatever. Some of those buys wind up being raffled off at the annual family reunion, but some others are on the floor, too.”

While many antiques store owners travel extensively to uncover the goods they sell at their respective businesses, most of the shops work equally with “pickers.” These individuals have a good eye for the store owner’s taste, and will shop around to find appropriate items.

Although I did not find the perfect iron on my trip, I saw plenty of other tempting prizes that might well have come home with me.
So whether you’re searching for a specific find, or simply hoping to stumble on a treasure, an afternoon’s worth of entertainment is at your fingertips along South Elm Street. Bring your walking shoes and an open mind, and a little bit of heaven can be yours.

Antiques & Accessories on Elm
323 S. Elm St.; 336-273-6468. Mon., Tues., Thurs.– Sat.,
10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.;
closed Wed. and Sun.

Farmer’s Wife Antiques & Collections
339 S. Davie St.; 336-274-7920. Mon.–Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Hampton Antiques
526 S. Elm St.; 336-275-7563. Mon.–Sat., 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Jules Antiques and Fine Art, 530 S. Elm St.; 336-389-9934. Mon.–Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Lewis Street Antiques
123 W. Lewis St.; 336-373-1163. Mon.–Sun., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Lions’ Crown Antiques
536 S. Elm St.; 336-275-5765. Mon.–Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Rhyne’s Corner Cupboard, 603 S. Elm St.; 336-378-1380. Mon.–Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Browsery
516 S. Elm St.; 336-274-3231. Mon.–Sat., 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.