Serendipity antique shop in Alexandria offers a glimpse into the past

Serendipity antique shop in Alexandria has seen some pretty unique items from the past, like a milliner’s hat stretcher and an old speakeasy cabinet disguised as a bookshelf.

Locals Lori and Jack Walters opened the shop in April 2019. Before it was Serendipity, the building housed, at different times, a bookstore/coffee shop, a hunting surplus store and a five-and-dime. The building itself is historic – it was originally built around 1896 as the Alexandria Bank, and you can still see the name etched in the concrete.

Lori Walters said she has always wanted to have her own shop doing something she loves: antiques and home décor.

“Lori worked in retail for almost 30 years and always worked for somebody, so we were always interested in having our own business,” Jack Walters said. “I’d already retired from the military and was getting ready to retire from my engineering job at Toyota. So, we thought the timing was pretty decent as far as giving me something to do to keep me out of trouble.”

The Walters used to get their inventory from attending estate sales in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, but as they’ve made a name for themselves, they get people reaching out to them now. For instance, if someone’s grandmother dies and a family has a household of antiques or collectibles, they might contact Serendipity.

Roughly 80% of the store’s inventory is furniture, home décor and collectibles, and 20% is local vendor products like fudge, jams and jellies. The Walters said they try to support local makers.

They’ve even helped launch other businesses. Main Street’s Bored Game Café owner Priscilla Brownfield started with a display in Serendipity, allowing her to build clientele and money before opening her shop in Alexandria.

Many treasures come through Serendipity’s doors, telling stories of the past.

“We get to see a lot of stuff from the past that was functional that you take for granted today,” Jack Walters said.

One of Jack Walters’s most memorable items was a speakeasy cabinet from Prohibition. The front of it looked like a bookshelf, and the back opened so you could put liquor and lock it inside.

“That’s been the nice thing also about having this (store) is just to learn about why they either made it that way or for what they used it for,” Lori Walters said. “Because sometimes you look at something and you’re like, I have no clue what that is. We try to investigate.”

She said many of the items, especially the furniture, show the craftsmanship and attention to detail that went into them. Jack Walters said the oldest piece of furniture they’ve had was built in the 1830s, and it is impressive that it has lasted almost 200 years.

“What I like about it is all the different people that used it,” Jack Walters said. “What were they going through? It went through the Depression and went through two world wars. What kind of conversations happened around this table, for example, back in the 60s or so? To me, it’s nostalgia. The hands that touched it took care of it. People prayed at this table, people cried at this table. So, it has some value and that’s why we want to find a good home to try to keep that going.”

Though Serendipity sees its regulars once a week or once a month, its primary customer base is from outside the area, from people looking for specific items or if someone sees an item on Facebook Marketplace. The Walters said they get customers from Cincinnati to Chicago.

The Walters said they run Serendipity for the love of people and human connection, not for the money.

“We’ve noticed that if we had done this business when our kids were in school, and that was how we were making a living, it couldn’t have been done,” Lori Walters said.

The couple said they have made lifelong friends operating their shop on Alexandria’s Main Street.