The Buzz: Longtime antique furniture restoration business moving to Kaukauna later this year
FOX CROSSING – A longtime Fox Cities business is moving across town later this year.
Harp Gallery Antiques & Vintage Furniture at 2495 Northern Road in Fox Crossing plans to move to a new showroom and warehouse in Kaukauna, owner Ken Melchert told The Post-Crescent on Tuesday. The antique store offers historic furniture, art and other vintage finds, which are made fit for modern homes through Harp Gallery’s expert restoration process.
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The new location is at 2101 Progress Way in Kaukauna, about 15 miles up Interstate 41 from Harp Gallery’s current store. There isn’t yet an opening date for the new location, but Melchert hopes the move will be complete in the next five to six months.
“It has this showroom full of marble and exceptional stonework,” Harp Gallery marketing manager John Melchert said of the property in Kaukauna, which used to house Carved Stones Creations, Inc. “It’s going to be a beautiful showcase for our business.”
Ken began looking into procuring a larger property about a year ago. Harp Gallery’s Fox Crossing store, which is on the east side of I-41 just south of the Prospect Avenue exit, is overflowing with inventory, including items that are ready to sell, as well as restoration projects that are still in progress. As a result, Harp Gallery’s employees — artisans, such as carpenters and artists, who specialize in many kinds of antique restoration — are working in tight conditions.
“All of our shops are bursting,” Ken said. “We have artisans, wonderful artisans at work, but they need space. You can’t give a carpenter a desk. He needs a large area to work and re-glue furniture and fix them.”
Locally, Harp Gallery receives about three houses worth of new antiques each day, according to Ken.
Harp Gallery’s increase in business and stock can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. The business also puts great emphasis on its online presence.
“Especially since COVID, we saw a major spike in online interest. Not only our website, but on our social media pages and stuff like that,” John said. “Furniture’s been really good since COVID because of all the people buying houses and changing up décor and getting inspired.”
Wisconsin is Harp Gallery’s biggest state in terms of customer base, but the next four — New York, California, Georgia and Texas — are all outside the Midwest. About 75% of Harp Gallery’s business takes place outside of Wisconsin, according to Ken.
“Our business is overwhelmingly online,” he said. “Even Wisconsin people come to us because of our online presence.”
Ken and his wife Rebecca opened Harp Gallery in 1985 in downtown Appleton, across from the Paper Valley Hotel. They added the second location in Fox Crossing in the late 1980s and ran both stores briefly before investing solely in the latter location.
Harp Gallery Antiques & Vintage Furniture is open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Harp Gallery posts new arrivals — usually about 50 to 100 items — to its website every Monday morning. Call 920-733-7115 or visit harpgallery.com for more information.
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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Harp Gallery Antique Furniture moving from Fox Crossing to Kaukauna
