Watson’s Antique Shop
On the corner of North State St and Curtice Ave in the North End of Concord stood this building that became part of my family’s story.
The building was moved there after my grandparents had passed, placed onto the part of the property that had once been my grandfather’s garden.
My father moved the building onto that corner and opened Watson’s Antiques.
In the front of the building was the retail shop, but it was not long before my father expanded the building to accommodate his workshop. Here is stripped and refinished old pieces as well as painted and decorated furniture.
The Antique Shop was not my parents full time job, they had that too, but it was a hobby that consumed much of their time. During our family vacations, they would take drive to look for antiques for the shop and broken furniture that could be repaired.
For me, the shop was also where I learned to work. I spent time there in the summers and on weekend, helping. It was my introduction to retail, but there was not formal lesson. My mother had a bookkeeping system where every item in the shop carried not just a price, but a code. This code told me what they had paid for the item and how much flexibility there was in the price.
I learned that this was a place where people often like to haggle. I learned not to talk with people, how to read their interest and how to decide what could be adjusted and what could not. It was not just about selling, but about interaction.
When I got old enough to work, I stopped helping at the shop. I could earn more with a clear hourly wage, but I loved working at that shop. It gave me so much. It not only connected me to the past, through objects, but it also helped prepare me for the future.
My home today has many of the antiques that my father refinished and decorated. They not only connect me to him, they connected me to the past, to this small building and a family business.
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