For Immediate Release For More Information

Floyd & Bonnie Durk

11225 E. Robb Cook Rd.

Centralia, MO 65240

573-696-3619

Dlites208@aol.com

Antique Lamps To Light in Missouri

Coal-oil, or kerosene lighting, is often “mystic” to those who are too young to have experienced the warm glow that illuminated our homes in years past. Collectors restore and light the old lamps that were essential for our parents and grandparents. Many young people today are discovering the nostalgia and beauty that antique lighting add to their home décor—especially family heirloom lamps.

Collectors who prize old lamps will hold their 40^th annual Gathering (convention) August 1-4, 2012 at the University Plaza Hotel, Springfield, Missouri. The Gathering is sponsored by The National Association of Aladdin Lamp Collectors (www.aladdincollectors.org)/

Floyd & Bonnie Durk are the General Knights (hosts) who plan and organize events. Calling themselves Aladdin Knights, the group is America's largest club of antique lamp collectors. More than 500 are expected to attend.

Lamp and lighting collecting clubs in attendance will be: Aladdin Knights of the Mystic Light (www.aladdinknights.org), The Rushlight Club (www.rushlight.org), oldest lighting club in America, who will hold their summer quarterly meeting in Springfield, MO; The Night Light Club (www.nightlightclub.org), collectors of miniature lamps; The Historical Lighting Society of Canada (www.historical-lighting.on.ca); Historical Lighting Club of England; the Guild of Lamp Researchers (www.lampguild.org) and the Fairy Lamp Collectors (www.fairy-lamp.com).

Collectors and students of antique lighting attend to study and learn history of lighting ranging from rushlights and whale oil to discovery of new fuels and technology in lamp improvements. Aladdin Lighting Technologies, Inc., manufacturer of Aladdin lamps, will be present. Gathering events include an auction, educational seminars, memorabilia display room, raffle, banquet and the huge Show & Sale. The “Ladies of the Knights” donate their time and talents to make a beautiful, handmade quilt that a lucky member will win at the annual banquet.

The Antique Lamp Show & Sale opens to registered members at noon Friday and to the public on later Friday and on Saturday. Spectacular, rare, and beautiful are words that describe this unique and unusual show featuring antique lighting. World-class dealers will offer an immense variety of antique lighting and accessories. Lamps of all kinds including colored pattern oil lamps, Gone-With-The-Wind, art glass lamps, opalescent lamps, miniature lamps, student lamps, finger lamps, Victorian hanging fixtures, floor lamps, center-draft lamps, as well as the collectible early electric lamps, plus the world-famous Aladdin lamps including their Deco style figurines!

The public is invited to the 23rd International Lamp Show & Sale on Friday, August 3 from 3 to 7 PM and Saturday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the University Plaza Hotel. There is a nominal admission fee. See the website: http://http://www.aladdincollectors.org/ for details.

For more information, contact Floyd and Bonnie Durk, 11225 E. Robb Cook Rd., Centralia, MO 65240. Email: Dlites208@aol.com

-30-

New Items always arriving!

 Wow - the only word to describe the new china hutch and buffet we just added to our store.  This is a custom unit made out of solid wood - no sawdust here!  In face we believe most of the wood is walnut which is very rare now.  You can buy both of these for $2299 and if you act quick we will throw in a matching walnut table with seating for 8!




We are always adding things to the store that pique my interest - here are a couple of things we just added last week.  One is a night light for a man cave!  Every man needs one of these.  It can be had for the low price of $49.00

Also new in the store are a great pair of old phones.  One is a wall hanger and is complete - it is on sale for $159.00.   The other is a operator phone from the early part of the century and has the separate box with ringer on it for just $100.00

 And we also have this cute puppy that just arrived - it is a syrow wood Scottie with glass eyes and for sale at the low low price of $41.00

New TV Show Coming!

Breaking News!   Our friends at Evident Entertainment will premier their new show called SOLD! on the History Channel, 11 April.  It airs at 9:00 PM Eastern/8:00 PM Central   Check out the quick trailer on the front page of our website!

This show takes place right here in Missouri at the Lake of the Ozarks and stars Rick Bryant who owns a family run auction company.  This new show blends all the fire and brimstone action of a fast paced auction with the history and background of things being sold.  Every week will feature unique and one of a kind items and the people who want them. 

Please let everyone you know to tune in and help make the premier of SOLD! a record breaker!  

Secretary Drop Down Leaf Desk

We are starting to get a lot of interesting things in the store and as time permits I will try to let you know about them on this blog. Just arrived is this great looking secretary desk. It is drop leaf with a leather writing surface.

 Check out the inside of this desk - it has several hidden compartments.

 This would look perfect in any hallway or den.  It is available right now in the store for the low price of $550.00   Act fast - this one won't last long. 

Great Spring Deals!

We just moved a lot of things in from our recent estate buy.  Now is the time to buy before anyone else beats you to this great deal.  If you want to buy any of the things I am showing today on this blog ask for Mike and get a Special 15% discount on these items only.

Check out this great Formal Dining Room Ensemble - It is made by Bernhardt and Seats 12.  Comes with Table and 10 chairs and 2 captains chairs.  Also comes with custom made table pads.     Check out this great china hutch below that comes with it.  On the left is the very nice roll around server.

You can get this entire Formal Set for $3550.00 (or the smart buyer will mention this blog and get 15% off)

We also have several other items from this estate like a Retro Crush Velvet couch in excellent condition for $850.  Very nice Lazy Boy Couch and Love Seat for $440, an Ethan Allen Corner Desk with working refrigerator for $450.00.   There is a nice secretary desk for 379 and Mirror for $129.00

New Estate Just Added

As many of you know we are a "UNIQUE" store that offeres a lot of different things.  Many people look for antiques, others search for addtions for their collections.  A lot of what we offer are things people can use in everyday life.

We just added an estate that has all of the above!  We just added to our furniture floor some very nice living room couchs made by Lazy Boy and Ethan Allen.

Also as part of this estate is a HUGE Formal Dining Room Ensemble that includes 12 chairs, China Hutch and Buffet.  This unit is not in the store yet but will be soon.

I will post more information about all of it and pictures in the next day or so.  Keep watching!

Time for Some Fun

Everyone learns a lot watching all the TV shows like American Pickers, Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, X-Files and so on.  Well its time we bring to light a recent find that may shake the artifact world to its very core!  When it comes to antiques no one beats this find.

We all know our government is at best inept and at worst corrupt.  Everyday you read stories about them buying a toilet seat for $10,000 or funding research to watch shrimp on a treadmill.   So when we had the opportunity to bid on a government storage unit we had no idea what we would end up with.  Deep within the dusty old storage boxes in an non decrepit government building were some truly amazing finds. 

Take a close look at this fossil we found.  This thing totally blew our minds - It was still packaged and ready for shipment along with its shipping lable.  But look really close at the claws of the beast.

Can you see it?  Buried deep in the claw of this old dinosaur!   Here is another picture closer up.  Keep in mind that this head is a couple of feet long. 

Now how did a coca cola bottle end up in the claws of an extinct dinosaur?  In my opinion the scientists who found this were aware of something extraordinary.  It must have been trapped in a time warp experiment straight out of the cold war era!  They did the right thing and contacted personnel from U.S. Department of Science and were ordered to ship it to a special unit within the department of Justice.  Specifically they were to ship to Agent Scully and Muldar.  We have no idea what bureaucratic mishap caused these finds to be stored for years and how they ended up being auctioned off but I am sure there will be a

blue ribbon committee convened to investigate.

Along with the soda drinking Dino were a couple of other oddities like this dinosaur egg complete with a dinosaur.    Also in the box was the fossil of another small dinosaur and the original shipping label.

You can see and view these great finds at our store.  The raptors were moved into the furniture room so we would have space to display these new additions to our store.    We also have a huge slab or rock of some kind with fossilized fish on both sides.  For those of you old enough - think back -Rod Serling -Theme song of the twilight zone.

Baggage Cart Just Arrived Man Cave Approved

Just arrived this great old baggage cart - this would be the perfect addition to any Man Cave.  It is made of steel and solid wood planks -  Use your imagination - The steel painted black - wood cleaned, sanded, stained, and varnished.  This is a man caves perfect piece of furniture - nearly indestructible!

What is great about this piece is the vendor who owns it has several more and all available.    We also have a lot of other great Man Cave Items in the store - how about a 6 foot tall Marilyn Monroe Card Board figure?   One or our vendors is a retired Taxidermist and has some of his extra mounts in the store - Bear Head, Hog Head (For your Harley Guys), Deer, and the every elusive and very rare Jackalope!   Just added by another vendor are several mounted trophy size fish.  Included are Bass, Stripers, Wall Eye, and huge Crappie.

All over the store are primitives like old saws, tools, posters of great looking beers held by attractive ladies!  We also have a vendor who makes custom steel cutouts of just about anything.  Some of his most popular are the Man-Cave Sign and the Harley Parking Only.    He can make just about anything for you when it comes to signs.   Check out our web site and enter sign in the search engine to see a few examples - more to come.  If you have any hobby or interest and want something made special for you cut out of steel let us know.

Now for all you real men out there - come visit our booth at the KBGX Womans Show being held at the Ozarks Empire Fair Grounds this Saturday, the 25th of February!  We expect over 8,000 visitors this year at the show and only the bravest of men! 

Snooze and Lose!

We had a great weekend!   Busy Busy Busy - One of the things I have learned is if you see something in a flea market and think you want to buy it - buy it.  It won't be there when you come back.

This was really illustrated on Sunday - I had a regular customer come in from St Louis looking to buy things for his store up there.  One of the things he looked at was a very nice old big leather satchel for $95.00  The unique thing about it was it was made in Springfield MO.   He looked at it and wanted to know if he could get a dealer discount.  I contacted the owner of the bag and he was able to lower the price a little.  I went and found the customer and told him what we could do and he said he would think about it.

In the meantime I was also thinking about it.  If he did not buy it I was going to.  It was a great looking leather satchel in its own right but having the bottom stamped with the name of the manufacturer on the bottom and made in Springfield MO was awesome.  I was going to buy it and keep for display in the store. I never had time to research it but I would guess it was made in the 30s or 40s.

Next thing I notice is another customer walking up to check out carrying the satchel.  As the customer is leaving the store with it, the first customer comes up and sees it leaving.  He gives me a look and a lopsided grin and says's "darn, I just decided I was going to buy it"  We both laughed as I told him "you know better then to hesitate buying when in a flea market"

One of the things that surprises me the most are the number of great buys our customers find every day.  I work here and not a day goes by that someone brings something to the counter I wish I had seen first.

Booth Information and Tips

We get a lot of emails and phone calls from people around the country wanting information on how to get a booth in our store.  We currently have a waiting list so if you want a booth please send us an email of what you will be selling and a good phone number so we can contact you when we have a booth opening. Some are from long time vendors and some from people who want to try it for the first time.  

First I thought I would explain what our store offers so you can compare it to others you may be considering.   We have electric power at nearly every booth.  Our store is well lit and we have wide aisles for customers to walk down - plenty of room for wheel chairs or walkers.  We also set up our store so that everything is on a simple to follow grid with lettered rows and each booth numbered.  You are not following some maze.   Our store also has a huge parking lot right in front of the store with plenty of lighting at night.  A safe and secure place to park and shop.

Customers love the fact that we have two sizes of shopping carts available.  We also have a separate loading area for picking up larger items that does not interfere with the convenient front door checkout.  We have elected to provide our customers with a variety of soft drinks and water at the best prices in the area.  Complementary coffee is also provided all day long.   Customers can also place higher priced items on layaway for 30 days!

We also provide daily emails of your sales.  Once a week we also send you a month to date recap of your sales.  Usually we do this on Monday if I remember to push the button.   We have also launched our new on line Market Place where not only can your items be for sale in the store - they will have nationwide exposure.   On our web site you will notice we have a place for people to contact the store if they have things for sale.   We pass these leads on to our vendors via email so they have first chance at new merchandise.

In addition to the rented booth space our vendors can place bigger furniture on our furniture floor for sale.

What makes for a successful booth?   The simple answer is price - vendors need to buy cheap and sell cheap.   But price is only part of the equation.   It does no good to have great prices if everything is just stuffed into your booth.,  You need to set your booth up to present your items to the customer.  Most people shop from the knees to the shoulder.  Small things on the floor will generally be ignored.   You need to keep your booth clean and neat.  If you sell clothes or toys then you will need to spend a lot more time working your booth.  Clothes and toys tend to end up on the floor and makes the booth look junky.  There is a danger in having too much "Stuff" in your booth.  If it is too cluttered customers will just walk by.  Having a booth that has a theme and great eye appeal is the secret to great sales. 

It is also a good idea to change the look of your booth every few months.  We have a lot of repeat customers always looking for new and different things.  If you booth never changes they tend to just walk by it.  Keep it look fresh and inviting.   People are always looking for good deals and most of them want quality.  If all you have to offer is wal mart overstock items from china the chances are you will not be successful.  Keep a wide variety.

Women Show

One day I will get the hang of writing on the blog more often.  The problem is I type faster then I think and that gets me in trouble!

One week to go before the KGBX Womens show at the Empire Fair Grounds - We are excited to be part of this and will have some great items on display and for sale in our booth.   We will be located in the East Hall - Once you go in the hall hang a hard right and you will see our banner above our booth right against the far wall.

The focus of our booth is to demonstrate that some Antique Flea Market stores are a great resource for finding those special decorating items needed for the home or office.  Our store bridges the gap between dank old stuffy flea markets and antique stores and the new higer over priced Antique Malls.  With over 200 vendors and most of the women we have a huge variety of booths and products in our store.

On Line Store Update - we have hired some help to load new items on our online store.  It will take some time but eventually we hope to have a lot a variety and options for those of you too far away to visit out store.   What is great about our on line store is that most of the items you see on line are available in our store for you to buy and pick up.    As time goes on I will try to high light some of the great one of a kind things we will be able to offer!

Breaking News

We are proud to announce that we have secured a booth at the KGBX Womens Show to be held at the Fairgrounds in Springfield MO on the 25th of February 2012.  Hours will be 8am - 4pm

Our booth is dedicated to our 156 plus Women Vendors that have booths in our store.  They are Entrepreneurs in the True Sense of the American Spirit.  We are going to be displaying and selling items from their booths in the store at the Women Show.

Our online store continues to grow with items being added every day.  Right now we are only able to offer shipping on smaller items, but over time we hope to ship everything.   One of our new vendors offers hand made wooden pens made out of a variety of exotic woods.  He custom forms the pens and used modern pen and ink inserts.  Not only are these some very beautiful pens you can find new ink at any office supply store.  They make great gifts.  Please check our online store under collectables or unique items.  You can also see them in the store in showcase 2.

We are also proud to announce that Antique Phoenix has just added a booth in our store.  He has some really cool things that we are adding to the online store.  Check out his Barber Back Cabinet and Machinists Tool box under Antiques.

For all you pocket watch people - We recommend that you go to Midwest Watch and Clock for cleaning and repairs.  His customer base is worldwide and James the owner of Midwest will be happy to talk with you concerning your pocket watches.  You can find a link to his online store on our web site on the right.

Expanding our online store - we are in the process of really expanding our on line store.  We have hired someone just to post things online.   With ten of thousands of items for sale in the store we have a huge inventory base.  Unlike most stores which concentrate on just antiques or collectibles we are offereing anything and everything.

The great thing about our store is all the things listed on the online store are also available in the store for our local buyers.  They do not miss out on great deals.   Once we sell something in the store our system alerts us to remove it from the online data base.

Searching for Information on the Web

Still working on this blog thing LOL - As time goes on I am sure I will get the hang of it.  Right not I type faster then my brain thinks and since I am a member of the male species I guess that is normal!

At the end of this month our store will be working a booth at the Greater Springfield Garage Sale at the Fairgrounds in Springfield MO.   We will have a booth dedicated to helping anyone who walks in find out what they own and what it may be worth.  This is our second year doing this and we had a blast last year when we did not know anything.  Now I know that I know less then I did before.  The great thing is we have some great vendors with expertise in a lot of different areas helping man the booth.

One of the greatest tools we have is the computer.  We are able to get online and serach a lot of data bases to help the customers determine what they have.   Without a doubt one of our greatest tools is worthpoint.   Once we are able to indentify an object we can then use the worthpoint data base to help determine its aproximate value.   Many times we see items that have sold in prior years but have developed our own system to use the worthpoint value, when it was sold, and come up with a realistic value in todays Market Place. 

Many times people want to know how we find out what something is and what it is worth.  Patience!  Sometimes it is easy.  Just google a name and description and out pops a list of sites that talk about it.  Other items are more problamatic.  Then it becomes a detective process.  Plug in a description, color, size, anything that pops to mind.  Often that will still not help but then you need to use common sense and quickly scan all the results of what comes up in a google search.  When you find something that is close to what you are searching for - read all about that item.  The narative about it may give you a clue in how to describe what it is you are looking for.

Don't get frustrated - keep in mind that you want to have fun in your detective work and don't be afraid to ask anyone you know questions about anything you are searching for.  Finally when you find something that is really odd or unique and can't quite lock it down - search for clubs that may be able to help you find out what it is.  For example if you have an old tin car - you may find a tin car club with members willing to help you find out what you have.  Always be polite and if you find it is not worth what you thought don't get mad at the messenger!

In the beginning

Well here goes my first foray into the world of Blog!

It has been a long ride from the world of construction to this point.    When faced with unemployment after the collapse of the construction economy, I had to have a job.  At 56 my employment options were limited at best.   Taking stock of my work experience I was pretty limited in what I could do.  My early years were spent in the Air Force.  Then in the late 70's I left the Air Force and began a career in the concrete pumping industry.  All my eggs were in one basket and when the economy tanked and the company I worked for filed bankruptcy I was left with nothing.   My company stock was worthless and the company had stopped contributing to the 401K program years earlier.

I had no intention of giving up and was determined not to go on unemployment.  I needed a job.  I spent a lot of time trying to find a new career where I would work for myself, not some corporate rolex jerk.   Some years earlier a friend had tried to talk me into joining with him to open a flea market.  I thought he was nuts and gave it no thought.  With limited option available I remembered his idea.  He had long since retired and was not available to open the store.  I then contacted a fishing buddy that actually worked for me before I laid him off a year before I was laid off.   I told him I had an idea for both of us to have a job.  We could open a flea market.  He thought I was nuts but with nothing else to do agreed to listen.  As we talked and explored the possibilities we visited flea markets and antique stores all over the area.   We made a list of what we liked and did not like.  A business plan began to develop in my mind and eventually I put it on paper.  The next step was to get financing.  So with NO retail experience, no experience in antiques, collectibles, or flea markets I walked into a local bank with my plan and asked to borrow money.  Not a bank I had a relationship with, but a bank that my research had indicated would be willing to listen and consider my plan.

That was the short story of the beginning.  In retrospect I wish I would have kept a journal of how and why we built the store the way we did.   One of the hardest things to not do is explain our formula for a successful store.  I don't want the competition to know what and why we do things!   My blog is really going to be a mismatched dialog on a lot of topics - I hope anyone who reads this won't get too bored.