The saying is, “When a door closes, somewhere a window opens.” For Jeremy and Beth Ronspiez, when Beth lost her job, a building came open in Stillwater and a new opportunity with it.
“It was the right time in our lives as far as we both always had full-time jobs, and I found myself unemployed. The building came open, and we took the leap to open a business,” says Beth.
Kind and always willing to help, the Ronspiezs bring their love for vintage items to the community with a sense of authentic friendliness.
They are the new owners and operators of the Memory Lane Vintage Mall at 208 W 10th Ave, which opened here in Stillwater on August 1st. The building, notable for its large covered front porch that runs the length of the building, has a cozy, inviting feel to it. Visitors enter through a set of double doors with oval glass panes into a clean, well-laid out space. Huge windows on the south wall let in ample natural light.
So far, their venture is going well for them. Memory Lane Vintage Mall offers 63 spaces with 42 vendors currently selling. In just two weeks, they grew to a waiting list of 25 potential sellers. “We’ve gotten so much good feedback from everybody,” says Beth. “Everybody goes on and on about how clean and well-laid out it is,” adds Jeremy.
The Ronspiezs are an old hand at selling old things. For the last five to six years, they’ve had booths here in Stillwater’s Antique Mall, four in Guthrie at two different stores, and at the Cooper Penny in Cushing. It was only a side project until Beth found herself suddenly unemployed. With a backlog of over 200 potential sellers at the Antique Mall, the Ronspiezs felt Stillwater could support another store. They just needed to wait for the right moment.
“We were just getting ready to go on a cruise and we saw this listing and we said, ‘If it was still available when we get back, we’re gonna look into it’ – that it was meant to be,” says Beth. When they arrived home in Stillwater, they saw it was still available, so they called. “We came and saw it, and the rest is history,” Beth laughs.
The Ronspiezs signed the lease on June 15th and started renovating. Beneath an old, wavy carpet floor they discovered and restored a hardwood floor that fits in with the setting perfectly. Memory Lane Vintage Mall is a place to get lost gladly, spending hours perusing lamps, copper pots, vintage tools, frames, and lots of old books, including children’s classics.
Their hours are Monday through Friday, 12 p.m. - 8 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
