CHELSEA — Marj Daniels is preparing to close another chapter in her life’s story, but she does not want the next chapter to be her last.
After 25 years as the owner of Uptown Antiques in downtown Chelsea, Daniels has closed her shop forever. It was a good run, but the time has come for her to wrap up that part of her life and get on with the next turn in her journey.
The antique store is being liquidated through an auction set for 10 a.m. May 28 at the old Ace Hardware Store next door to the Chelsea Clock Tower Annex on Main Street. A preview of the items for sale will begin at 9 a.m.
Marj opened her store in November 1989 after her family encouraged her to become a business owner. Her late husband Bob was running the family lumber business across the street at the time in front of Jiffy, with youngest son John learning the business that he now runs.
The first 10 years were fun, Marj said. The economy was strong and young couples and families would come in and buy a lot of her wares. Then a recession hit around 2000 and the fun and the boom times ended.
“People would be driving through Chelsea from out of state and if they were from the east or west coast they would see an antique store and have to stop,” Marj said.
Instead of people coming in and buying antiques they would bring things in looking to sell or even worse, bring their kids into the store like it was a museum and explain what the items were.
“The first of the month, I knew it was time to go,” Marj said at her home on Cavanaugh Lake.
Marj has been a fixture in Chelsea for decades. She grew up on a farm and was a classmate of Bob Daniels. They both attended college after high school, with Bob graduating from Michigan and Marj from Eastern Michigan University in 1951 with a fine arts degree.
They married in 1950, but knew their future was going to get off to a rough start as Bob enlisted in the Navy to avoid being drafted. That was during the Korean War and Bob served for three years.
The couple lived in New Jersey, staying in Bayonne and Woodbury, before the Navy transferred Bob to Athens, Georgia. Life was good there as Bob was an instructor at the Supply Corps School. When his discharge came, they thought about staying in the south, but the call from Chelsea was too much for them.
The couple came back to town as Bob worked for the lumber business and Marj became a homemaker.
“We liked it here,” Marj said.
Marj said she saw the potential Chelsea had and organized many fundraisers that involved bringing the first fashion show, first home tours and a 4-H club the Fair Acres, to town. The young couple began to take an active role in the affairs of the community.
In 1961, Bob, at 31 years old, was the mayor. During this time Marj entered the Mrs. Michigan contest and came in second. She was told she lost because her family was so young at the time (Jeff (the actor) was 5, Jody was 2 and John 1); the winner’s children ranged in age from 8 to 18.
During those years she was judged on her homemaking talents, community involvement and what kind of marriage she had.
Marj maintained her community involvement and when the Chelsea Community Hospital opened in the 1960s, she was a buyer for the gift shop for nearly 12 years. After that she worked with a friend who owned her own antique store.
“I put two and two together and decided to open my own shop,” Marj said.
Son John had purchased the former Sylvan Building which had fallen into disrepair. He renovated the building, transforming what had once been home to the Sylvan Hotel into a mix of retail space and professional offices.
Her family’s impact on the community is well known with Jeff opening the Purple Rose Theatre to Chelsea as well as helping with the Chelsea Center for the Arts.
Husband Bob and a friend are credited with bringing Craig Common from his job as a corporate chef in Ann Arbor to opening a restaurant downtown.
“He was only going to stay 13 years, but he’s been here for 27,” Marj said.
Chelsea has always possessed a progressive streak and it has kept that spirit alive today, she said. She appreciates the growth and new buildings that are popping up all over town.
But that meant an active and involved local government.
“There isn’t a street without a curb today,” Marj said, crediting the village and city councils for keeping the town’s appearance up. “They do a really good job.”
The local schools are another feather in the town’s cap as it reflects the area’s forward-thinking tendencies, she said.
“We have always been progressive, never going backwards,” Marj said.,
For more information on the auction, visit braunandhelmer.com. All the details you will need will be there.
Don’t expect to find Marj at the auction.
“It would bother me to see items for less than I paid for it,” she said.
Source: http://heritage.com
After 25 years as the owner of Uptown Antiques in downtown Chelsea, Daniels has closed her shop forever. It was a good run, but the time has come for her to wrap up that part of her life and get on with the next turn in her journey.
The antique store is being liquidated through an auction set for 10 a.m. May 28 at the old Ace Hardware Store next door to the Chelsea Clock Tower Annex on Main Street. A preview of the items for sale will begin at 9 a.m.
Marj opened her store in November 1989 after her family encouraged her to become a business owner. Her late husband Bob was running the family lumber business across the street at the time in front of Jiffy, with youngest son John learning the business that he now runs.
The first 10 years were fun, Marj said. The economy was strong and young couples and families would come in and buy a lot of her wares. Then a recession hit around 2000 and the fun and the boom times ended.
“People would be driving through Chelsea from out of state and if they were from the east or west coast they would see an antique store and have to stop,” Marj said.
Instead of people coming in and buying antiques they would bring things in looking to sell or even worse, bring their kids into the store like it was a museum and explain what the items were.
“The first of the month, I knew it was time to go,” Marj said at her home on Cavanaugh Lake.
Marj has been a fixture in Chelsea for decades. She grew up on a farm and was a classmate of Bob Daniels. They both attended college after high school, with Bob graduating from Michigan and Marj from Eastern Michigan University in 1951 with a fine arts degree.
They married in 1950, but knew their future was going to get off to a rough start as Bob enlisted in the Navy to avoid being drafted. That was during the Korean War and Bob served for three years.
The couple lived in New Jersey, staying in Bayonne and Woodbury, before the Navy transferred Bob to Athens, Georgia. Life was good there as Bob was an instructor at the Supply Corps School. When his discharge came, they thought about staying in the south, but the call from Chelsea was too much for them.
The couple came back to town as Bob worked for the lumber business and Marj became a homemaker.
“We liked it here,” Marj said.
Marj said she saw the potential Chelsea had and organized many fundraisers that involved bringing the first fashion show, first home tours and a 4-H club the Fair Acres, to town. The young couple began to take an active role in the affairs of the community.
In 1961, Bob, at 31 years old, was the mayor. During this time Marj entered the Mrs. Michigan contest and came in second. She was told she lost because her family was so young at the time (Jeff (the actor) was 5, Jody was 2 and John 1); the winner’s children ranged in age from 8 to 18.
During those years she was judged on her homemaking talents, community involvement and what kind of marriage she had.
Marj maintained her community involvement and when the Chelsea Community Hospital opened in the 1960s, she was a buyer for the gift shop for nearly 12 years. After that she worked with a friend who owned her own antique store.
“I put two and two together and decided to open my own shop,” Marj said.
Son John had purchased the former Sylvan Building which had fallen into disrepair. He renovated the building, transforming what had once been home to the Sylvan Hotel into a mix of retail space and professional offices.
Her family’s impact on the community is well known with Jeff opening the Purple Rose Theatre to Chelsea as well as helping with the Chelsea Center for the Arts.
Husband Bob and a friend are credited with bringing Craig Common from his job as a corporate chef in Ann Arbor to opening a restaurant downtown.
“He was only going to stay 13 years, but he’s been here for 27,” Marj said.
Chelsea has always possessed a progressive streak and it has kept that spirit alive today, she said. She appreciates the growth and new buildings that are popping up all over town.
But that meant an active and involved local government.
“There isn’t a street without a curb today,” Marj said, crediting the village and city councils for keeping the town’s appearance up. “They do a really good job.”
The local schools are another feather in the town’s cap as it reflects the area’s forward-thinking tendencies, she said.
“We have always been progressive, never going backwards,” Marj said.,
For more information on the auction, visit braunandhelmer.com. All the details you will need will be there.
Don’t expect to find Marj at the auction.
“It would bother me to see items for less than I paid for it,” she said.
Source: http://heritage.com