Kensington Court Antiques — Local services in Ross Township

I spoke with a man on the phone today and told him I have a vintage 1938 Royal typewriter in great condition. I asked if he buys and sells antiques or just sells. He said he buys and sells. I asked how much he would buy it for, he said he "would have to see it because I already have a lot of typewriters already". I said ok great I will bring it in. Our conversation ended. I go inside the same antique store I called, Kensington Court Antiques, and spoke to the same man at the counter. I told him, I called earlier about the typewriter. He looks at me and says, "I'm not interested, I told you on the phone I'm not interested." I reiterated that he said for me to bring it in to determine selling price. Had he told me on the phone he wasn't interested, I surely would have said ok, thank you; and hung up the phone like I did with other antique inquiries had today. He didn’t even offer to show me the "many typewriters" he said he had. He told me they're upstairs, as if I'd been there many times before. I go upstairs and see 3 old dusty and rusty typewriters that I wouldn't even buy for $.50. I told him he didn't have many typewriters as he said, just old junk he is passing off as vintage collectibles. They most likely don't even work. My typewriter is in great condition and types it just needs a spring tightened for the carriage and/or escapement. I told him on the phone I didn't even want to sell it. This man has a hat and handle bar mustache. He thought I was white when I called on the phone because of my educated dialect and when I showed up as a black woman with sweatpants and a hoodie, he immediately dismissed me as if I was a homeless person on the street looking to sell a stolen typewriter. I didn't steal my typewriter. It was handed down to me by my late aunt, hence the sentimental value. I said to him can you at least take a look at it. As he looked he admitted it was a very nice typewriter but refused to buy it from me because of my pigmented skin obviously. I confronted him about his racist demeanor and he had the gall to look befuddled by my discernment and accusation. I told him I would not have driven 30 minutes away from my home if I was told on the phone upfront that he wasn't interested at all. I said I guess I don't have the right skin complexion. 😕 He said what do you mean? I said because I am BLACK you are not interested. He of course denied my claims because he is obviously delusional regarding his racism. Buyers and sellers beware if you call this man make sure to disclose your ethnicity if you are not Caucasian because this man is a racist, or at the very least has a racist demeanor. 🙄 If I could give 0 stars I would because people like him are what's wrong with the world 🌎 today. I was very offended and wasted time I cannot get back. I will pray for you handlebar mustache and fedora hat man and people like you who still see color as a threat. He might as well put a sign on the window that says no colored folks allowed like...

If I could rate this business with no stars I would. I stopped in one after inheriting a house full of antiques to see what my options were to sell. I was told to send pictures and given a business card. Now mind you, I have an entire house to catalogue and photograph. So I started with my first batches of pictures and emailed them to the store. This was early January. I had some back and forth and was asked where the house was because there was so much to show. I answered and waited for a response. And then I waited. And waited some more. I emailed twice to follow up as to why I was no longer hearing back. Come Mid-March I decided to call and was told they are have a showing and that’s why I hadn’t heard back. (A heads up instead of silence would have have been nice.) So I called back after the weekend of the showing to see if we could finally schedule for someone to stop by. I was asked the same questions I had been asked before as if I hadn’t been communicating with the same gentleman all along. I was told my emails would be followed up on. I had a gut feeling not being given any new info on the phone was a bad sign. It has since been 3 weeks since I last called. I have yet to hear anything back. I’m very glad to say I have found other buyers that worth doing business with. I will never associate with this...

After a less than pleasant experience at the Antique Mall at the Ohio River (six miles from this place), we were hoping this would be somewhat of a step up. Glad to report it was. In fact, it was an entire flight of steps better.

Clean as a pin, well-organized, interesting inventory AND the two gentlemen who run the place were as friendly as they come. Although I didn’t find what I collect (ocean liner memorabilia), I did find a very cool item for my wife for Christmas…and at a very reasonable price. As we were checking out, we chatted a bit with the owners and they made some great suggestions for other antique malls in the general area. We went to a few of them, and their recommendations were spot-on. We really appreciated how helpful they were.

It’s more than apparent that they really care about their customer’s experience. Antique Mall at the Ohio River could take a few lessons from these guys.

HIGHLY...