Columnist Susan Snyder: In Boulder, old hobbies die hard

Susan Snyder's column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at [email protected] or 259-4082.

Robert Ack admits the sign taped on his Boulder City antique shop chases off a few good customers.

"$2 fee to enter," it says "Nock on the door to enter. I will refund money after a purchase."

"I know it's kind of bad," the owner of Ack's Attic said. "But three weekends in a row, I had 40 to 130 people walk through each weekend and stuff was getting broken."

Browsers haven't been buying, Ack said, so the shop is closed more than it's open, and people who are "just looking" have to pay.

Ack's Attic sits on Nevada Highway, Boulder City's main drag. Ack says he's been there 22 years, but two recently vacated antique shops on one side tell a different tale.

Owners of one opted to go totally Internet. An owner of the other said her lease expired and couldn't be renewed because the building's new owners must first bring up the aging structure to modern standards. To a casual passerby it looks bleak.

But Glena Dunn says business couldn't be better. She opened Back in Thyme antiques on the other side of Ack's shop three weeks ago. It's among four shops to open in the historic area since December.

"It's just turned out really well," Dunn said, as half a dozen people browsed her shop on a weekday.

She'd been open about 10 minutes and already the cash register rang with sales. Dunn says she used to spread her wares among Las Vegas crafts malls. When the largest mall closed, she pursued her dream of a store all her own.

"Sometimes you do feel like you're the marshmallow factory, and you're just there to entertain," Dunn said. "But there are buying days, and there are looking days. Once it kicks in, it kicks in all day. This is a prime location."

Glenn Reed and Heidi Lee, of Where On Earth? rock shop across the street, have seen 14 businesses come and go from the main drag in the two years they've been open.

They say they've found staying open Sundays and being friendly -- even to looky-loos -- make survival possible. It also helps to have items and an atmosphere people can't buy in Las Vegas.

"You need to be open and have something people want," Lee said. "There is a great potential here for the right kind of shops."

Joyce and Willie Dzuba hope they have the right kind of shop. In December they opened the Rose Antiques on Arizona Street, just off the main road. Most of their customers are longtime clients from Green Valley. But they're open Sundays, too, in hopes of gaining the weekend browsers.

"Even though other shops have come and gone, we're hopeful. We keep good stuff and keep our hours (consistent)," Joyce Dzuba said.

Dunn says she wishes the downtown shops would band together and publish a walking map that shows where all are located. She keeps the Rose Antiques' business cards next to her cash register and steers customers that way as they leave her place. In a town as small as Boulder City, she says success for one brings success to all.

"I just try to keep people moving through everywhere," Dunn said.

So don't let a couple of empty stores scare you off. It's worth the trip -- even if you're just looking, Joyce Dzuba said.

"I'd like all of Boulder City to be a place to just come to for a quiet day."

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