Nov 26, 2016 4 min read

MONONGAHELA – It was the sale of an old Victrola that got things spinning a quarter-century ago at Inez Gilotty’s Main Street Antiques in Monongahela.

In 1991, she decided to go into the antiques business cautiously, renting a one-room space on Monongahela’s West Main Street.

But it wasn’t more than a couple of months that she learned from some customers that a house across the street at 800 W. Main St. was up for sale.

After purchasing the 12-room structure in mid-1991, she soon began providing three floors of space for herself and several other dealers, an arrangement that’s still going strong today.

Gilotty, 86, whose shop will hold a 25th anniversary celebration next week, said recently that owning the building that houses the shop is one of the keys to being successful in a business that has survived the advent of online auctions through eBay, 9/11 and a couple of economic downturns.

Gilotty entered the antiques business at age 61 after retiring from a 25-year career as a legal secretary, something she also credits for helping her to prepare for her post-retirement work. She noted that the firm she worked for was involved with numerous estate sales, so she learned first-hand how antique dealers would often purchase the entire contents of houses to obtain antiques.

But Gilotty also stressed that antiques is a business people get into because of their love of old things and the pleasure they can bring.

“We’re not doing fabulous, but we’re getting by,” she said.

But the house, whose 12 rooms are filled with antiques and memorabilia from bygone eras, has provided more than its share of memories for Gilotty, right from the start.

“On the first day we opened here, people followed us in,” she said.

It was the sale of a Victrola – a phonograph that operates by cranking up a spring-driven turntable to play records – that put things into motion.

Just moments after opening that first morning, “a man came in and saw it in a corner and asked if it was for sale,” she said.

Since then, the siren song of things from times gone by has drawn visitors from down the street and halfway across the world, she said, noting that buyers from Japan and most European countries have found their way there.

In addition to locals who frequent her shop, she counts regular customers from Peters Township and Upper St. Clair.

For the mix and volume of customers, Gilotty credits an active chamber of commerce in Monongahela for creating numerous events that keep people coming to town and to her shop.

“Rarely a month goes by that something isn’t going on,” she said, noting the town’s Riverfest celebration, Community Days, a Ghost Walk and an architect’s tour of historic houses – including her place – that provide the flow of customers.

Twice-a-year yard sales, called “Fleatiques” also bring people seeking finds, she added.

During non-event times, Gilotty said it also helps that Monongahela, fed by Routes 136, 837 and 88, enjoys a steady stream of traffic on a daily basis.

“Out of all the valley towns, I think this is the most vibrant,” she said.

As for maintaining an antiques business for a quarter of a century, Gilotty offered some well-tempered advice.

Dealers can do better if they own the space from which they sell, she said.

“You can’t just think you’re going to open a shop, rent it and make a living. It’s not going to happen.”

Gilotty said she’s been fortunate in that most of the dealers who have rented space from her over the years have stayed an average of 10 years.

While the dealers who currently rent from her hail from Monongahela, Duquesne, Belle Vernon, Pleasant Hills and Upper St. Clair, “they all have other jobs,” Gilotty said, noting that their “day jobs” range from a real estate agent to a railroad engineer.

Today, her son Bobby Gilotty is the one who mans the store most of the time, helping customers, while Inez does the books, monitors the inventory and helps the shop maintain a look in keeping with the changing seasons and holidays.

She said her husband, Robert, 88, helps with moving merchandise in and out.

“He’s the muscle,” she said. “He brings in the furniture and does the repairs.”

Main Street Antiques, 800 W. Main St., Monongahela, (724-258-3560), will hold its 25th anniversary celebration from 1 to 5 p.m. Dec. 4.