Volo Antique Malls — Local services in Volo

Updated in response to the owner’s reply: Hi Lisa, I have been shopping at your antique mall for several years. I gave an honest and fair opinion about my experience at your establishment. Based upon your reply and your feedback on other customer’s reviews, it is obvious that you are not open to constructive criticism and you are a person that likes to talk much more than listen. As for the items in your antique mall, I’m not criticizing specific eras of antiques, I’m criticizing the level of quality and desirability. For the years that I have shopped there I have seen much of the same old junk sitting there rotting. 98% of the items offered at your antique mall I wouldn’t even take for free…Honestly. When I say garage sale items I am talking about the random glasses, mismatched dishes, mass produced porcelain figurines, random what nots and Knick knacks that nobody wants, items that are left behind after people get evicted from apartments, items that you can find plentifully at thrift stores and curbsides…Take a look around your store because you are drowning in that type of stuff, especially the second and third floors of your barn. You obviously don’t have standards or guidelines for the image that you want for your store, so people are just bringing in whatever and it has become more of a flea market that an antique shop. If you don’t think so then maybe you should read some of my other google reviews about antique shops that have held high standards and take pride in selling quality items. You should take a walk through some of those places and see if you can tell a difference between what they’re doing and what you’re doing. I am glad that you have great sales, I want to see you and other small business succeed and thrive. If business is that good I would suggest investing some money into mitigating some of the safety issues at your establishment, particularly the spongy, bouncy floors in your barn. Some areas have at least a one to two inch flex per step! I would hate to see someone lose their balance and get hurt. I understand the barn is old, but that is no excuse for safety hazards, they can fixed reasonably. Just because you have good sales doesn’t mean you have a good antique shop with quality items. What you have is more of a flea market with a customer base that likes flea market items. If you marketed yourself as a vintage flea market /collectible market I would give you a much higher rating because that would be a more honest representation of what you have. As for the other antique malls in the area that have closed down, to my knowledge it didn’t have anything to do with declining business, they were sold because the real estate was worth a fortune and the owners cashed out. This place used to be MUCH nicer. From an antique perspective, the quality of items is VERY low. There are a few really great dealers here. For example, there is a booth in the barn that has all Hollywood Regency/French style items that is very well done. There is also a dealer in the barn with really great 1920s-1950s kitchen items. There is a dealer in the middle building with excellent quality Asian antiques, French clocks and other high end items. These dealers have done an excellent job. The rest of the place looks like left over garage sale items, miscellaneous Knick knacks, glassware and other unwanted items. There is a difference between dealers that put an effort into marketing quality items and dealers that have a booth as a dumping ground for unwanted items. This place has become 90% dumping ground of unwanted/undesirable items that people are quite frankly just too cheap to throw away. The third building houses mostly collectibles and toys, model cars, etc. if you have a kid from 7-15 years old they would probably really enjoy this particular building! Too sum it up, If you like flea markets and garage sales then your will really enjoy the Volo antique malls. If you are into quality antiques you will be very disappointed shopping here with the exception of the few...

The barn is like a maze... In a bad way.

Update based on owner feedback below *a note to the owner, as you replied to my initial post: Since you've decided to be passive aggressive, looking up my other reviews and supposing I'd be more at home at walmart than an antique mall... I have to admit, it feels like you're trying to bully and/or belittle me.

So, I'll be blunt and much more detailed in response. Also, my rating stands.

No, walmart doesn't "rock my boat." But I never banged my head on a wooden support beam in a walmart before.

I know you rent space to vendors to sell their goods, so I can't really blame you if a vendor over-packs their stall to the point you can't hardly move in it, which is a common nuisance at Volo Antique Malls. I also can't blame you for the vendor criminally overcharging for their goods.

What I can do is blame you for trying to pack in as many stalls as possible, even if there really wasn't room enough for one.

And what is that stench in the barn? It literally smelled like something was decomposing. It is a barn.... so something probably was... rats, mice, a cat, etc. And I was there in mid October... it was a cold day... I don't even want to think about the smell on a hot summer day!

Since you asked what you could do to improve... I'll give you my opinion:

You packed in too many stalls, some with ceilings so low a man of 6ft height has to hunch over to stand inside.

You allow your vendors to clutter their rented stalls, further adding to the over-all feeling of claustrophobia. Also, it means strangers aren't likely to visit a stall if someone is already looking in it. People like to have space to move without bumping into each other!

You don't seem to feel the need to educate your vendors about the internet... e-bay specifically. Your customers with smart phones can verify, in real time, that they are being ripped off... which is why I bought nothing while I was there and instead got the EXACT same things I saw in person, online, for a fraction of your vendor's asking price. I realize you probably promise your vendors they can charge what they wish, but when they grotesquely overcharge, it reflects poorly on your establishment as a whole... food for thought.

Lastly, Fumigate and deep clean the wooden barn. It smells rancid. Not exactly a welcoming environment to shop in.

2023 Update: This place has gotten even worse over time. I had some hope the owner would take criticism seriously. Instead, I see the owner (Lisa?) replying to all critical Google Reviews with the same obstinate, smug, and often belittling tone. Interestingly, the owner's comment on my original post is no longer visible, (to me at least.) The gentleman who suggested this place is more of a flea market than anything else is absolutely correct. I'm not trying to pick a fight with the owner, but the owner seems to be picking fights with EVERYONE who does not agree their...

My family and friends visited the mall on January 14th. We have been here a few times before and had friends in from out of town and decided to take them. While the overall experience was pleasant, I'm rating a 1 based on how rude the staff treated us. It was nearing closing and we wanted to make a purchase from one of the locked booths. We couldn't find anyone on the mall floor so we went up to the front and waited in line at the register to ask if they could unlock it. We waited a good ten minutes as there were several customers checking out. It wasn't organized and was very confusing, especially to the staff, as to who was next in line, etc. When we finally got up there the manager rang my friend up and I asked for someone to unlock the specific booth. I believe it was a manager who was ringing my friend up and she said sure that she'd grab a key. She was obviously busy with other things and left to go to another building, forgetting about us. Okay, no problem, we waited. I was understanding as it was busy and around closing time. We waited another 5 minutes for someone else to acknowledge us. When I asked for a key, the woman started lecturing us about being so close to closing time. I get it, you're volunteering because you have a booth here and you want to go home. But I work in retail as well and that's something you just have to deal with, sorry! When we went to unlock the cabinet there was miraculously another staff member there giving my son a lecture about the time. I told the man I knew what time it was and he went away. The woman proceeded to unlock the cabinet but hesitantly, asking which one we wanted. I told her we wanted to look at a few as the prices were facing towards the back and we weren't sure which we wanted. She opened the cabinet and as I was showing them to my son asking which ones he liked she again told us to hurry. Finally I just said forget it. I mean honestly it was like 10 to close still and the rest of the line in front had died down by this point. We didn't end up purchasing anything bc she was just so rude. I feel bad for that vendor that we didn't buy from. I know it wasn't that vendor's fault but I just couldn't take it anymore. We won't be back. We'll be purchasing our custom Lego minifigures on eBay where you can look as long as you want and pay less money! I would've paid more for the experience but the customer service...