The Death of the Corner Antique Shop...Blame eBay and the Internet

[mandy]

Upheaval is evident in Minnesota and elsewhere as prices fall, longtime dealers drop out, and a storm of cheaper imitations hits the retail market. Much of the antiques trade has moved to eBay.com and other Internet sites where each consumer can be an expert. In many places, people don't browse shops like they used to, either.

"The dealer sales were going down because there just wasn't the same interest in antiquing," said Kelly, 71, who last month closed Mill Antiques, considered one of the premiere antiquing destinations in the Twin Cities.

These days, fewer younger people care about antiques, preferring to buy new. And baby boomers seem more inclined to collect novelties from their childhood years, such as theme lunchboxes, than to invest in pricey Victorian furniture built 100 years or more ago.

Such changes have "devastated the industry,"...

full article: http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1410455.html