T & D Variety and Ye Olde Antique Shoppe

   

 One day last week, I dropped by Ye Olde Antique Shoppe across from the Sonic on Route 29 in
Madison Heights. I had been eyeing the place for some time, but just hadn't yet managed to get out that way before it closed at 5:00. When I walked in, I didn't see anyone for a little while. After a minute or two, the most bright-eyed older gentleman with the warmest smile came around a corner and greeted me. I asked him if this was his shop, and he told me to talk to the ladies in another room. He then encouraged me to go upstairs and check out the rest of the store.

I went from room to room, taking in the rich variety of the items in the store from glassware and pottery, textiles, novelties, decor, and just about anything you can imagine.  I believe I was most excited by the media room upstairs, which I fully intend on revisiting in the near future when I have more time.  There were shelves and shelves of books, magazines, and vinyl records-- all priced quite reasonably.  The rest of the store was a little closer to retail prices than a thrift shop, but nothing I saw was priced unreasonably.  Because I had arrived with only twenty minutes left until closing time, I had to leave before I really had a chance to appreciate everything there.  As I was leaving, I ran into the gentleman who I met when I first came in as he was leaving around the same time.  I asked him if he knew anything about the shop next door (in the same yard), and he said:

"Yeah, it's open, but the guy that runs it isn't there."

So... I decided to try it again the next week.  The following Monday, I had to make a bank run and decided that Madison Heights would be preferable to rush-hour Wards Rd, so I found myself driving past the shop again.  I happened to notice that this time it was, in fact, open, so I dropped in on my way back.  No one was there when I first walked in, but eventually a gentleman came in and sat down at the front desk.  The shop, T & D Variety, wasn't very big; in fact, it was simply one big room.  The walls were just bare studs and plywood, and a variety of lanterns and baskets hung from the ceiling.

 

Compared to the shop next door, it was much more "rustic" and much less "boutique," --and I loved it.  The inventory wasn't as polished or refined as that which was in the bigger store next door.  There were what-nots, vases, new items, collectables, textiles, and dishes on every open inch of surface area in the shop; the miscellany notwithstanding, the biggest marvel in the shop was the owner, Tody Carrico.  Remember the older gentleman with the vibrant smile from the first building?  Well, that was Tody.  He just didn't want to be bothered with running his store the first day I came to shop, so he told me that the guy who runs it wasn't there.  Ha!  He just laughed heartily when I called him on his evasive maneuver.  It didn't take long to find myself wrapped up in Tody's storytelling.  We went from discussing WW2 trench parascopes to make-shift depression-era toys to "...that's what's different about kids today."  I braced myself for the inevitable rant about how adolescents are the scourge of society, but instead of coming down on the current generation, he reflected about how the pressures are so much more different in today's world and how children (and adults) no longer get to experience the luxury of spare time.  It was sad, he said, that we just aren't afforded spare time because of the rapid-fire pace of obligations and the need to work all day every day just to tread water. 

If this is gone, I bought it!

"You live right next to someone, but you don't even get the time to say hello to a neighbor and ask them how they're doing." 

    

Tody has owned and operated T & D Variety for 35 years, while his wife Ruby and her sister Dolly run Ye Olde Antique Shoppe next door. I literally sat and listened to Tody's stories for over an hour, and was quite impressed with his wisdom and touched by how much he loves his family.  His favorite young lady, who may as well be his granddaughter because that's how he sees her, reminds me very much of the relationship I had with my grandfather.  Her pictures surround his desk, and he can't help but to smile when he thinks about her.  She calls him every night, and he is bursting with pride when he talks about her accomplishments.

Almost an hour after closing time, I finally left T & D Variety.  I thoroughly enjoyed the store, which has some treasures inside, but the conversation was the real priceless gem.  You would be missing out if you didn't stop by and pay a visit to this exuberant trio and browse their collection.   

"Why worry about anything?  When I start to worry, I just fall asleep."