After operating as a downtown Fredericksburg staple for 40 years, Beck’s Antiques & Books has moved to the cloud.
Bill and Susan Beck went into business in 1973, starting with antiques shows and opening up a downtown brick-and-mortar location by the early 1980s.
In 1987, the Becks purchased the building at 708 Caroline St. next to the current Visitor Center and ran their business there for the next 37 years. The business buys and sells a variety of furniture, ceramics, silver, metalwork, jewelry, books, rugs, art and more, specializing in late-18th- and early-19th-century antiques from England and France.
But Bill Beck, who also served as Fredericksburg’s mayor from 2000-04, said the antiques business has changed in recent years.
Sales from drop-in shoppers have slowed significantly, while serious collectors are more likely to find what they are looking for without ever stepping foot inside a store.
The Saturday before Easter this past spring, for example, Beck said he made $3 from in-store sales on a day that saw about 100 people come through the business’s doors. That same day, a customer made a $8,200 purchase over the phone.
Those realities, coupled with simply getting a little older, helped convince the Becks to transition their business model from an in-person store to an online venture. This past summer, they sold the building at 708 Caroline (which was also their home) to Foode owners Joy Crump and Beth Black. (Black and Crump, who purchased the building through 110 Ashby LLC, have not yet announced their plans for the building). The Becks also sold the Pump House property at 301 Sophia St. in April.
This summer, they moved to a home on Twin Lake Drive in Fredericksburg. The basement has space to keep much of their inventory, as well as an area where pieces can be photographed and listed for sale on their website: Becksantiques.com. They’ve also rented additional storage space outside their new home.
Bill Beck said he and his wife loved their time in downtown Fredericksburg, and it was important to them to remain in the City. He doesn’t want to retire, as he loves the hunt for quality objects and the interaction with his customers.
Bill Freehling covers local business for the Fredericksburg Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
