When I took my trip to Nashville earlier this year, I made it a point to see the newly opened Antique Archaeology store owned by Frank and Mike of the TV show fame "American Pickers" on the History Channel.
Last time I did a post on American Pickers, many of you commented you were not sure who they were, or had not seen the show...so let me give you a quick synopsis of Frank and Mike and what they do.
Two guys. From small town Iowa. They travel around the country looking for what they call 'rusty gold'. Forgotten, cool old things they find by randomly (and sometimes not so randomly) stopping at houses and farms and buying the items from the owners. They sell these things to private collectors, online and in their shops, both in Iowa and now Nashville. This all started because Mike was posting videos of their 'picking adventures' on You-Tube years ago. Fast forward to today...and they have a hit TV show on the History channel.
Boom. There you have it.
Amazing, isn't it??
My sister happens to live near them in Iowa...and I had a technician at my home last week trying to fix an internet problem, and somehow we got on the subject of the show and it turned out he was very good friends with Mike. They have known each other for many years, apparently they used to be in bike racing competitions together. (that explains Mike's love for bicycles that comes out on just about every episode!) Small world, no?? That conversation reminded me I had never posted the pics from there new store in Nashville...so here we are!
It was dusk in early March when we were there, so I apologize my pics are a little dark. The building they are in just so awesome, I had to show you at least part of it!
It is a huge industrial warehouse right off the freeway that runs through Nashville. It is an old motorcycle factory. Again, very fitting for these two since they constantly talk about their love for old motorcycles. This was a match made in heaven when they were looking for shop space in the Nashville area!
The moment I walked in the front door, you notice so many things for sale they have 'picked' on the show. I remember this red arrow from a very early episode....looooove it!
And the giant pig head?? How can you forget Frank putting that on and doing a little dance?
Signs...signs...everywhere a sign. They had some really cool ones!
I loved the 'feel' to the store. Exposed brick, wood floors, and I am a girl that loves an exposed beam ceiling, I tell ya! I was smitten with the 'industrial' feel their shop has.
See the large sign of the woman in a swimsuit??...it was soooo pretty in person! The background was a faded, pale light blue and she was water-skiing. I remember that one from the show and fell in love with it then, I so wanted to take it home. Wouldn't it be fabulous in a beach house?? I think it might have advertised a beach...super cool. I loved it.
They had quite a few little cabinets with drawers...
But this one stopped me in my tracks. HUGE. Aqua. Chippy. 72 drawers.
72 DRAWERS!!!!
{wow...}
{sigh...}
This was up by the checkout. That large sign against the back wall that says ENTRANCE WELCOME TO GILLEY'S...that was from the episode when they visited old-school country singer Mickey Gilley's house. He used to own a 'roadhouse' that was very famous, called Gilleys in Texas. This was the sign off the building. Super cool.
But even more than the history of that huge sign, I loved the photo booth. And yes, it works!!
Again, loved it.
If you are ever in Nashville, the shop is so worth a visit. Honestly, there really wasn't anything I could buy. The prices were very high. I talked to the manager of the store for quite a while. She told me if anything comes in that is under $500 it is gone pretty much the same day. The rest are high dollar items, I would imagine they keep it that way for display purposed. It was fun to recognize things from the show, and remember where they came from.
They have live music on the weekends...and have a lot of t-shirts for sale! Oh. and if you ask, they have a pre-printed list behind the counter they will give you, outlining the best antique shops to visit in the Nashville area.
I am curious, has anyone else been to their shop...either in Iowa or Tennessee? I would love to know what you thought!
