Falls Church Antiques Center Expands as Stylish Patina Moves to Park Ave.

The Falls Church Antiques Center is coming back strong!

After closing sadly in April, 2025 following over 40 years in business, then joyfully re-opening six months later, the Falls Church Antiques Center (FCAC) – aka the Falls Church Antiques Annex, at 250 W. Broad St. – has re-claimed from home décor boutique Stylish Patina next door 1000 sq.-feet of retail space that FCAC had earlier possessed before downsizing. In May, Stylish Boutique relocated to expanded spaces at 301 Park Ave. downtown, allowing FCAC to move back in and increase their showroom floor space by one-third.

FCAC invited The Falls Church Independent to visit the store’s new spaces and interview its Co-founder and Owner, Paul Quinn, 83, and a few of the revived co-op antique store’s managerial and newly-selected dealers. We were curious to know how, given current economic uncertainties, the shop has come roaring back so impressively in the heart of downtown Falls Church.

“For nearly half a century, one of the region’s most beloved destinations for antiquing, collectibles shopping, and simply browsing for little affordable treasures, FCAC has served as the ‘perfect’ place ‘for antique enthusiasts and those searching for something interesting or unique,’ Visit Falls Church says,” we wrote in April, 2025 as FCAC was closing. 

Thriving in the Antiques Market

Asked to explain how FCAC appears to be thriving in an economy rife with uncertainty, inflation, and a host of other problems, Quinn said. “We’re doing very well.” With over 18 dealers and a lengthy waiting list for others eager to join in, FCAC has a “lot of fresh energy…. And [the dealers] are happy and they’re doing well,” he said. Joining us in the conversation, longtime dealer Alison Tibbets confirmed Quinn’s statement that, remarkably, the co-op has doubled its receipts since re-opening in October. 

“We’re working on meeting the needs of our current dealers – and we’ve been doing well,” Tibbets said. “The majority of them were looking for a little additional space. So we moved two over [to the newly re-acquired space].” Quinn added: “You know, [longtime dealer] Laurie [Trainer] was talking to me about it earlier and she was looking at the numbers, and we are now doing twice what we were when we started back again in October. And that’s outstanding.”

“And what accounts for that success?,” I asked. “We’ve got the things you need!,” Quinn quipped. 

“I think there’s a wide range of ages who shop,” Tibbets ventured. “Right now antiquing is in and people are happy to have a place to go locally. There are not that many areas within the [Capital] Beltway for antiquing. The land is too expensive to have a large antiques mall. So, within the Beltway, having antiques at all is something special. And we get people walking down from the High School. We get twenty-year-olds setting up their apartments, thirty-year-olds setting up their houses, older people just looking for something extra to fill out a set or that speaks to them. I mean, we just have such a wide range of items, whether it’s something that speaks to you personally or whether it’s something you’re looking for as a gift.”

Longtime dealer Laurie Trainer who assists Quinn and Tibbets in the store’s management elaborated on how the leadership team managed to revive FCAC after it closed in October and some key factors accounting for its current success. After Quinn shuttered his shop and put the building he owns at 250 W. Broad St. up for sale, both Trainer and Quinn had set up their antique wares elsewhere. But they were nostalgic for FCAC. “We were missing it a lot,” Trainer said. “So, every once in a while we would touch base and say, ‘Hey, the building hasn’t sold,’ and we had been watching that ‘For Sale’ sign. And [Quinn] started feeling better after several months, thankfully [following his wife's death from cancer]…. and getting a little bored. And he said, ‘Well only if you guys take the lead, because I can’t do a lot of it.’ So, we did. And it was a huge success. And one of my favorite things about the shop – listen to this fact: we have [dealers] in [their] 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90. Literally in all those decades.” 

Appealing to All Ages

So the diversity in the sellers’ ages facilitates connections with diverse range of buyers. ”And you know, the younger ones will come in and say, ‘What do you mean you’re not on Instagram?,’ Trainer said with a laugh. And Paul, bless his heart, has been open to letting us do things that I think his first reaction was, ‘We’re doing just great. Why do we need that?,” Trainer said. 

So now FCAC has hired former Falls Church school teacher and educational media professional, Chloe Yazdani, to take on the role of the social media manager for the shop. I asked Yazdani how she likes managing social media for Falls Church’s beloved antiques store. “I really like it because it helps us connect with our community and lets me showcase the unique things our vendors bring in to a wider audience that we hope will resonate with the store’s mission of [providing] some history and sustainability to the Falls Church area and it’s been very positive so far,” she said.

Yazdani is joyful to see the shop expand into Stylish Patina’s old spaces. “I’m very excited and it’s really a great feeling when people come in and they notice the wall has come down and they’re thrilled to see the different spaces and styles, and pieces. And two of the vendors used to be on the other side of the store and now when people realize the booths they like to shop have expanded, they’re thrilled.”

Trainer also believes younger shoppers are more environmentally aware and look to antiques for sustainability. As the pendulum of preferences swings back to younger buyers, she says, “Now antiques are in again and I think it’s partly the whole environmental, better-made [items], you’re not buying this 24-hour,” fast fashion and industrial throw-away items.  

In antiquing, momentum has also swung from one historical design style to the next. “...the pendulum swings," she said. "It was Hollywood Regency before and then Minimalism and now Mid-century [Modern] is the thing.” 

Bouncing Back

After losing his wife Catherine (he calls her: “Catherine the Great”) to cancer last year and shuttering the store, Quinn suffered a heart attack in January, from which he is fortunately on the mend. “Each of us was the second oldest grandchild in our grandparents’ life,” he said interestingly. “We liked their stuff and we liked Grandma and Grandpa…. When we got into” antiquing, “Cathy was primarily a doll collector…. We just did general antiques.”

Quinn credits Alison Tibbets and Laurie Trainer, with having the business savvy and experience to help revive FCAC. “I could not have put it back together alone,” he said. “We decided to open back up, and that’s been very successful. And I take all the credit when I’m standing in front of the mirror. But not in public.” [Laughs].

With such helpful antiques dealers as Tibbets and Trainer in the shop, Quinn has his eyes on stepping back a bit from the day-to-day grind. In classic Quinn fashion, he explained irascibly: “Well, maybe I won’t retire, but I must get out of the ‘main street.’ That’s just immoral! It really is! It’s selfish and fearful, and ‘Oh I love this. I can’t get rid of my Teddy Bear!’ Which is immature!” Snarkily, I suggested he could run for political office. “I could,” he said. “And I could also run from office.”

An Open Buyer with Strong Customer Service

While Quinn has turned over some of the more challenging business aspects of operations to Tibbets and Trainer and his sons at Quinn’s Auction Galleries, he frequently pops into the shop to negotiate purchases from customers, many carrying in mysterious bags and boxes filled with exotic and potentially sellable items and antiques. “People come in and say, ‘I’ve got stuff I need to sell,” and ‘Grandma and Grandpa are moving,’ etc. and I just got into the habit of talking to those people,” Quinn said. 

Quinn’s customers have come to have trust him as a fair and generous negotiator. “People are happy. They’re satisfied. They feel respected,” Quinn said. “I will talk to them about anything and I will buy almost anything,” he said. This while other dealers are more strict about what line of items they’re looking for. “The dealer says, ‘Well, this is what I buy. And that’s not quite it. So I can’t give you very much.’ And I do the same thing, mostly, but I take everything in the box somewhat. Every half a year I might say, ‘I can’t take this, but if you want to leave it behind, I’ll drop it off at the thrift store tonight.’ 

“I’m an open buyer,” Quinn said. “And we’ll come to a decision. And only once did I have to go home and get more money.” But even for Quinn, there are some items he’s just not interested in stocking. “I buy nothing except for the stuff people have brought in over the counter and they say, ‘Will you look at these?’ And what I tell them is, ‘There are things that I do turn away, guns, knives, and those kinds of things.’

“Paul enjoys interacting with the customer,” Tibbets added. “All of this is part of the customer service….  And he’s always developing relationships.” she tossed in: “We just have to help them get the money in their pocket and then they can go home,” Quinn interjected. “.... And I don’t get angry. I’ve never walked out on anybody. But I have had them turn me down. And I’ve turned down others. But that’s when they come in with a little picture with a little price tag at ‘Two Grand.’ – Pardon me? ‘They are ‘grand’ aren’t they? But let me tell you, the people who hang the ‘grand’ pictures on the wall – they don’t shop here!” 

Behind-the-Scenes Detective Work

Often, the dealers provide customers with behind-the-scenes research and expert advice. For example, for one customer, Trainer – a retired lawyer – is currently searching online painstakingly to locate a particular Mongolian painter whose work is represented in a few attractive paintings in the store. “I love doing the research,” Trainer said. “And every once in a while you find out you’ve got something really special and every once in a while you just never find the answer and it just haunts you forever.” [Laughs]. Trainer’s daughter even suggested hiring a private eye for this sort of task.

Niche Items That Sell

Quinn and Tibbets laughed about the time a customer came in to sell the store 100 pairs of salt and pepper shakers. “They’re still here – everywhere,” he said in a mockingly hushed voice. Tibbets, however, set things straight: “A salt and pepper shaker is a great thing for people who are collecting. They’re fun to buy and they’re small. And, they are being purchased.” 

“And I don’t object, really, I don’t forbid them to buy them,” Quinn added. “And you know, back in December I bought a collection of metal toy cars. A guy’s dad was deceased when I met him and I bought 400 of them. I had two big boxes. I came home and we counted, and counted, and counted. But they sold really quickly at Christmastime. And rarely do I ever go over three or four hundred dollars when I’m buying something. And I never carry more than $500 because that’s a danger there.” 

Trainer elaborated on the team’s strategy to curate offerings to loyal customers no matter how narrow the niche. “We had a gentleman who just sold old mostly English tin soldiers. And that’s not a huge seller. But he had his loyal customers who would come in. There was this man from Boston who used to come in on his business trips who would buy them as gifts.” So the team is on the lookout to fill in some of the gaps with lines that will sell. “We had a lot of ephemera and we had a lot of linens and we had a lot of things that we don’t have right now…. So we’re taking a few months to find, you know, the guy with the man cave stuff, and some of the other things,” Trainer said with a laugh. “....Vintage clothing is huge right now. We have a little bit of that now.”

Providing a Pop of Color

Painter, collector, and gallerist Sabrina Cabada – of Cabada Contemporary Art Gallery in Georgetown – has just joined the FCAC co-op team and is setting up her wares in the new spaces, providing a pop of color to the showroom. She’s loved browsing the booths at FCAC for over 20 years and finding items for her collections. “I’m a collector of colorful, wonderful items, so that’s why I’ve been coming here for so long,” she said. “My art is usually women of the 70s and 60s. So I kind of hit that whole genre. And I think I was brought on to add a different color.” 

Asked how she likes all the shop’s dealers, Cabada said, “They’re wonderful. All the women have been great so far. I don’t know [yet] if there’s a male dealer, besides Paul.”

“Are they helpful?,” I asked. “Yes. Absolutely. They’ll know the time periods and can even help me with pricing because I’m not sure exactly. But they’ll say, ‘Well, this is something we’ve sold here before, so we can tell you a little background about it.’ 

Data Collection

By compiling careful tracking lists of purchases and sales, Quinn and his in-house dealers are able to constantly assess what sells when and at what price. So over the years he’s gained expert knowledge of shifting patterns in the local antiques market.

Recently, Tibbets and Trainer have been vetting vendors applying to join the FCAC co-op. I asked what they’re looking for in a dealer on their team. “At the moment we’re looking for people who can add a little bit of diversity because right now we have a lot of people who have beautiful things, but we wanted to add a little variety,” Tibbets said. 

For the newly-opened up spaces where Stylish Patina used to be, Tibbets and Trainer are spicing up the offerings. “So we had three new dealers on this round and we have one that’s an artist and she has a very creative vibe. And one who specializes in early 1900s. And, we have a third with experience in popups and things, so that brings some diversity to the experience. So we’re looking to complement our existing teams.” 

As vendors are setting up their booths in the new spaces, Trainer described how nice it was to see the fresh new offerings. She pointed toward the front window where Japanese spherical paper lanterns are now hanging from the ceiling. “I’m sorry, but look at those lights down there! [Pointing.] They’re so fun. We have a rule, you can’t hang things from the ceiling without approval, and the reason for that is heavy chandeliers – you worry about insurance and them falling and stuff – but when [the vendor] said, ‘Well, you can play volleyball with these.’ I mean, they’re light and they’re fun and you can see them from outside. And that’s a young dealer up there. And it just brings a different vibe.”

A Team Co-Op

FCAC is also seeking dealers who will look out for the larger group. Using a co-op model for their vending and operations helps bind the team together, though it’s an unusual practice in the industry. “This is really team-run,” Tibbets said. “And as Paul likes to say, it’s a team co-op. So, everyone plays a role…. We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve put together a team that works really well together and have been really supportive of Paul, and us.”

“I think we always say, ‘You have to help keep the shop open. This is your shop and my shop and we all make it happen,’ Quinn said, describing what he tells the dealers. “There’s not a check-out person or a company per se. You know, everybody’s involved. And I don’t think I’ve seen many antiques shops organized the way we are.” So FCAC has all the dealers rotating through the various store tasks, from the cash register, to supplies, to basic office maintenance, to walking the floor and trouble-shooting. “So we sort of look for the cooperativeness and we learn how to get along with one another and so forth. And we do a good job,” Quinn said.

The Philosopher Quinn

Asked what brings joy in selling antiques, Quinn was pugnacious: “I don’t have to get in the car and drive a hundred miles and shop and then come home and wonder if they have bathrooms in anything other than the trees as I drive home.” [Laughs]. In other words, the suppliers come to Quinn rather than the other way around.

We were curious if FCAC had to deal with any City government red tape in their expansion process. “Not as far as I know,” Quinn began. “I don’t really know if they know I’m here. But, I haven’t heard anything from anybody…. But it could have been the green tape I saw the other day and didn’t see correctly.” 

I asked about Quinn’s grandmother’s rocking chair that he graciously allowed me to sit on when last I interviewed him. Both Quinn and Tibbets burst out laughing. “I’ve been telling them for six months I was going to get rid of Grandma’s chair because ‘Paul’s heading for the door!,’” Quinn said. And Alison said, ‘You can’t! It’s Grandma’s Chair. It’s yours. We want it.’

“I even put a not-for-sale tag on it,” said Tibbets. “But, about two weeks ago, maybe three, I said, ‘Oh good to see you. Grandma told me I could sell the rocker. And [Alison] was [gesturing] ‘Noooo!’ And Grandma said, ‘Look, you’re getting older and you’re not going to need it for very long. And you’ve got a young college student who would love this. And you could give Alison half of [the proceeds from] it, because she wanted to keep” the chair. “And I did that. I would never not do what Grandma wanted me not to do!”

“Yes, I reconciled the sale of the rocker only because you could see where it was going and it made you happy to see that it had found a new home,” said Tibbets with a laugh. 

Given how many times Quinn – who doesn’t carry a credit card and is “not a collector” – has turned to the theme of “letting things go” and “avoiding attachments” (such as his Grandma's rocking chair), I asked mischievously if he were a Zen Buddhist. “I think not. I don’t know them. I’m a farm boy. I can whistle and talk to birds,” he said.

“But, it brings happiness to help others in this business?,” I prodded. “Okay, I don’t know what happy is,” he started in. “Yeah you do,” I teased. “No, I don’t!,” he argued. “Why do you say that?,” I asked. “We don’t have time, he said. “My son says, ‘Oh my god! The Philosopher’s getting ready to process!” 

“But you are pleased to be back in this space again?,” I pressed. “I’m thrilled with it,” he finally conceded. “And I’m thrilled with Alison and Laurie. We would not be here had they not been in a place to say, ‘Yeah, I can do that.’”

“And Laurie and I are delighted to have the opportunity to open this for Paul and with Paul,” Tibbets said. “And it’s just really nice to have this as part of the community. And we do it for Paul, and for the dealers, and for the team”

By Christopher Jones