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Falls Church Antique Center will lock its doors for the final time on April 30, ending more than 40 years of treasure hunting, customer conversations and shared expertise at its downtown co-op.

The closing at 250 W. Broad St. follows the recent losses of other longtime downtown businesses, including Dominion Camera and Brown’s Hardware. The center’s building is for sale, and its antiques dealers do not yet know what will replace the shop.

Founded by Paul Quinn and his late wife, Cathy, the business became a regional destination for vintage glassware, dishes, books, typewriters, photographs, coins, furniture, hats, jewelry, toys and assorted curiosities. Arlington Magazine selected it as one of the area’s best shopping destinations for 2025.

Quinn said the closing has brought an outpouring of affection from customers.

“We’re closing the doors and locking up April 30,” he said. “And it’s been wonderful actually closing because we have had more compliments than I could ever have wished for.”

From an antiques booth to a Broad Street institution

Quinn came to Washington from Iowa in 1962 to attend college and work on Capitol Hill. He soon decided politics was not for him. After also spending five years studying for the priesthood, he met Cathy at church. The two became engaged on their first date.

Their shared interest in period furniture and vintage collectibles grew into a family business. What began with a small antiques-mall booth eventually became the West Broad Street co-op.

In the 1980s, the Quinns bought a roughly 130-year-old former medical office building at 260 W. Broad St., now occupied by Zoya’s Atelier. They operated there for about eight years, calling it the “White House.” The neighboring space was initially known as the Antique Annex before becoming the business’s principal location.

Quinn said the family began buying old objects during affordable outings to the country after their children were born.

“We liked old stuff,” he said. “Grandparents, the stuff they had.”

The excursions were fun and, he joked, “cheaper than therapy.”

Over the decades, the center developed a reputation for unusual discoveries offered at approachable prices. One of Quinn’s most notable finds was a table once owned by George Washington. The piece expands from a 36-inch round table into an oblong banquet table stretching 14 feet.

The shop could also respond quickly to changing public interests. Within two hours of the announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022, it sold more than $700 in Royal Family collectibles and memorabilia.

For Quinn, however, the business was always about more than objects. Customers frequently recognized pieces from their childhoods or grandparents’ homes, turning a shopping trip into an encounter with personal history.

“They come in and they have memories,” he said. “They have good, positive vibes. ‘We saw it at Grandma’s!’”

His dry humor also became part of the experience. When customers selected an item, Quinn sometimes suggested they set it aside for his birthday if they had not yet bought him a present.

Although some merchandise remained in the shop for years, Quinn said the center’s survival showed that its pricing worked.

“People buy from us,” he said. “If they didn’t, we’d have been gone a long time ago.”

Dealers hope the shop could return

Vienna resident and former regulatory lawyer Laurie Trainer has sold antiques at the center for six years. Under its cooperative model, participating dealers take turns staffing the store; Trainer generally worked there twice a week.

She still considers herself relatively new because some dealers have been involved for at least 33 years.

Trainer said Quinn, who owns the building, gave the dealers ample notice that it was being put up for sale. Because a sale had not been completed, they remained uncertain about the space’s future.

The dealers hope a new owner might rent the property back to them, potentially allowing an antiques store to reopen. Whether that could work would depend heavily on the rent because dealers operate on narrow sales margins.

Trainer described selling at the center as the retirement pursuit she had always wanted. Her interest began during childhood antiquing trips with her parents and continued throughout her life.

The co-op gave her opportunities to learn from both veteran dealers and knowledgeable collectors. Though she calls herself a generalist, she particularly enjoys primitive country pieces, including handmade objects, old buckets and aged wood with a distinctive patina.

She also watched tastes change. Hollywood Regency furnishings were popular shortly before she arrived, she said, while Mid-Century Modern pieces later became especially desirable.

Some finds brought unexpected pieces of history back to their communities. At a rummage sale, Trainer once bought a metal plate marked “Stanley Fire Department 51.” After contacting the fire department in Stanley, Virginia, she learned it had officially identified a truck.

A man connected to the department recognized the plate’s importance because his father or grandfather had helped start the organization. He offered to pay any price, but Trainer gave it to him instead. In return, he sent her a fire department T-shirt and challenge coin.

Another mysterious object turned out to be a brass device used to polish buttons on Civil War uniforms. A buyer involved with an Arlington museum purchased it for a renovation and told Trainer it would be placed on display.

Those discoveries are among the reasons she loves the trade.

Trainer has also noticed younger shoppers visiting the center. She believes interest in reuse and recycling has encouraged a new generation to buy secondhand goods. Some customers have even chosen used items as the theme for an entire family’s Christmas gifts.

“Our customers are the best,” Trainer said, thanking them for their years of patronage. “We’re going to miss them.”

A newcomer joins just before closing

Salesperson Alison Tibbetts became the center’s newest dealer in mid-February, despite knowing the store would soon close.

Tibbetts had wanted to try antiques dealing and asked whether space was available. Staff warned her that it was an unusual time to begin, but she decided even a brief experience could help her determine whether the work suited her.

Her earlier experience selling used children’s clothing had introduced her to small, beautiful objects from around the world. She became attracted both to the pieces themselves and to the uncertainty of the hunt.

“You just never know” what will turn up, she said.

As a cautious beginner, Tibbetts rented one display case instead of committing to a full booth. She prefers compact objects that fit on bookshelves, and she filled the case as efficiently as possible.

During her short time at the center, other dealers taught her how to clean, arrange and price merchandise. The results gave her confidence that she might have succeeded with a larger space.

“I’ve loved it even more than I thought I would,” she said.

Tibbetts said the center differs from antiques malls where sellers arrange their booths and leave without much contact with customers or fellow dealers. At the Falls Church co-op, dealers work together, talk directly with shoppers and continually exchange knowledge.

That community has made the closing bittersweet. Tibbetts has only been involved for a few months, while some participants in their 80s and 90s have spent decades there.

She hopes the center can reopen to dealers, possibly in September. In the meantime, she plans to sell her finds at monthly flea markets.

Quinn met the end of the longtime business with characteristic stoicism.

“Everything dies,” he said. “Trees. Plants. Dinosaurs. Human beings. People who are not yet born. The Cycle of Life moves on.”

Even so, the possibility of a future antiques shop in the building remains unresolved. For now, dealers and customers are preparing to say goodbye to a place where old objects regularly found new owners—and where those objects often carried memories far beyond their price tags.