Aunt Margaret's Antique Mall — Local services in Newark

Really cool antique mall, and a place I love stopping by. There are two floors, and each room or area is a different local antique seller, giving the place a great variety of items to shop through. My personal favorites are the arrays of books, the cookbook shelf, the occasional splashes of Corningware pieces and porcelain, the big postcard rack (where you can find a few wartime letters to sweethearts), and the varied selection of old sewing accoutrement. Great place to find some more unusual sewing tools that normally are upcharged on sites like etsy and ebay. My current darning tools and non-synthetic clothing brushes were pieces I got here for under $10 each (some as low as $4). I'd say a majority of the space is very fair in their prices, though some vendors sell certain items at a slightly higher rate. It's a relaxing spot to walk around and the staff is friendly. You will be asked to leave large bags at the front, but I don't mind this. There are baskets available, and they can also hold your finds up front as well. They also offer spots to sit, and water to rehydrate if you need to. Since it's an old house and the rooms are quite packed, this is not a wheelchair-accessible store, however the staff are very willing to assist where they can. There are also a small handful of culturally insensitive pieces for sale, which I believe is worth noting for BIPOC patrons of the store. I won't personally dock points from the shop for this, as it makes up a tiny percentage of the items available (and is an unfortunately common occurance when antiquing), but it definitely can be a bit of a jumpscare if you aren't expecting it. Otherwise, if you're into antiques and vintage items, including local DE history, it's worth a check out. The owner is often working the front herself, and is a very kind and passionate lady. I always have great...

I love this place. It has a lot of unique and lovely items and they are reasonably priced on top of it all! One of the most reasonably priced places in Delaware for what they offer, actually. I have bought many treasures here over the years. I love the vintage book selection downstairs and I love venturing through each room’s vignettes. I saw a review on here about lead paint, and I completely understand the concern. That being said, going to antique and thrift stores always poses some risk as items are not in their original formats with ingredient labels or ways to specifically research the item present in front of you. That’s why, if in the position of finding old things to be hazardous, it is important to research similar items in one’s spare time to determine what paints and materials were used in different eras or decades. The same is true of any Restore or second-hand item store. It’s important to be careful, but as a consumer the onus of responsibility is on each person. For example, I love the creativity used in the creation of cloissonne jewelry, but upon research found that some was created with the use of lead so I no longer buy it bc it is a lot of trouble to test it. I don’t blame antique stores for show casing it in its beauty, though, and some may not...

This antique store, like so many, carry a ton of items that are painted with lead paint. No mention of this by the employees, no signs, no disclosures. After testing some window panes I purchased here, sure enough they came back positive for lead paint. Store would not take returns. Why can't these antique stores warn customers of lead paint in the products they are selling? I'll be bringing my lead paint test kit to any antique store I ever visit again, including this one. Highly recommend you do the same to protect yourself and...