Photo by Aila Boyd
Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Fantastic Finds is one of Salem’s newer retail stores, having opened in November. The consignment shop, which is located on Apperson Drive, sells home décor, furniture, collectibles and antiques.
Kelly Eanes is the owner and operator. She’s originally from the area and lived here for 40 years. She moved away for a while, having first lived in Florida, then in Hopewell, Virginia with a man she met. They moved to Hopewell to be closer to his aging parents.
Photo by Aila Boyd
After having been a real estate agent for a number of years, she decided she didn’t want to go into real estate in Hopewell. The idea of opening a consignment shop took hold in her mind.
“I looked around and found a shop there. We started Fantastic Finds there. We were there three and a half, four years,” she said.
Eanes said she settled on the name of the shop because “Fantastic Finds” has an upbeat and positive sound to it.
She then decided she wanted to return home because she “wasn’t crazy about Hopewell.”
“I’m excited to be home,” she said. “I’m ready to help people.”
When she returned, she decided to relocate Fantastic Finds to Salem. After looking for a location, she settled on the storefront on Apperson Drive. While her current shop is a bit smaller than her previous one, she said she might move into a bigger space in the future.
“I have to start over. I had clients, customers there. Even thought it’s the same thing, I’m starting over,” she said. She said she’s looking to shaking the business up a bit.
“People will come in and say that they want to find something for their mom or something that reminds them of the past. That’s what makes it fun,” she said. “Things are more affordable.”
Most of the shop’s current inventory is from the Richmond and Petersburg area, but Eanes is going to start adding items she has acquired locally.
The inventory is constantly changing, with new items from various estates from throughout Virginia being added regularly.
“They’re unique things, things you don’t normally find,” she said of her inventory. “I look for a little bit of this and that.”
Eanes said although she normally looks for items for the shop, she does come across an item here and there that she decides to keep for herself. Once she tires of the item, she adds it to the shop’s inventory.
She said the shop takes up most of her time, but she still works with the occasional real estate client.
More information about the business can be found at: https://fantastic-finds-vintage-salem-va.business.site/