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A Shopping Stroll along Montréal's Amazing 'Antique Alley'by Ron Harvie
Montréal is blessed with a whole, long,
major street full of all that. Notre-Dame Street, or 'Antique Alley.' At last
count, there were fifty different shops in a half-mile stretch. And that's not
including multiple-dealer co-ops. New shops are constantly joining the ranks.
And the city planners are adding to the ambience by making the strip more
amenable to strollers -wider sidewalks, old-style lampposts, etc. Oddly enough,
most visitors tend to do Notre-Dame Street east to west, while native
Montrealers go west to east. On this tour, we'll be strolling à la
Montréalaise! The first place to check out is Boutique
Eklektik, a new store featuring Art Nouveau, Art Deco and 1960s furniture and
decorative objects. Next door is Proulx and Synnett, a spaciously elegant, yet
friendly place where the wares range from formal to fun-like a ceramic opium
pillow, for example, or an old autoharp-cum-lamp.
A few more steps leads to Dynasties Art, a
very aptly named place full of interesting European furniture. Its owner,
Jean-Claude Raschella, really has started a dynasty on Notre-Dame Street. After
immigrating from France and establishing a business, he brought his brother
François over to help out. But he too opened his own shop, specializing in
armchairs, curio cabinets and bibelots. Finally, the youngest Raschella,
Sylvain, arrived, who took over the lamps and lighting fixtures, eventually opening
his own shop, Claire Obscur, a few
doors away! Skipping over to the south side of the
street, a must-visit institution is Grand Central Antiques. This is one of the 'old timers,' in business here for
almost 25 years. It's located in one of the most architecturally striking
buildings on the strip, a mock-Venetian palazzo, complete with a top floor
colonnaded loggia. Inside: great furniture, dining room sets, brasses, and
chandeliers. Hundreds of glittering gems
dangle overhead. It's like walking through a series of treasure caves with
ceilings of diamond stalactites. Just beyond here is break in 'Antique
Alley.' For a few blocks , Notre-Dame Street is lined with parks, apartments,
even a large food company's plant. This little intermission gives you a chance
to rest your eyes-and your credit card! It also affords you a view of some of
the little streets of new condominiums opening off towards the old Lachine C
anal park area. This is one of the most newly-fashionable neighbourhoods in
Montréal, worth a short side-stroll of its own. After Canning Street, the shops continue.
Now, they're all on the south side of Notre-Dame Street, so dodging traffic is
no longer part of the fun! What is fun,
though, is discovering Deuxiemement, a store that almost defies description.
Let's just say that a pack-rat will think he's died and gone to heaven! Owner
Richard Lévesque has been here for about twenty years and he's kept everything
he's ever seen. Or so it appears. Of course, he sells a lot of stuff. And a big
part of his business is renting props to film companies-believe it or not, he's
actually got a storage facility equally packed with stuff! His specialties?
Well, just about everything. But start with his amazing collection of hats and
helmets. And don't forget the proprietor himself-one of the most charming and
articulate characters on 'Antique Alley. '
Also in this stretch are two large multi-dealer
antique 'malls.' One is Le Village des Antiquaires, where about a dozen dealers
specialising in as many different things have set up booths along a little
interior 'street.' This is a true co-op
since the owners are all on-site and able to explain their wares, as well as
negotiate prices on the spot.
Finally, in this same block is the Salvation Army Family Thrift Store. And if this seems like a sort of unglamorous way to end the stroll along 'Antique Alley,' consider two things. One: guess where a lot of the guys on Notre-Dame Street find some of their goodies? And two: where else could a shopper pick up a Jessica McClintock ensemble in moiré silk for $7.00? For more on Montréal' amazing Antique
Alley, contact the website: www.montrealantique.com Or contact: |
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TM
There's a new idea on the loose among
thinkers and theorizers these days. It takes an old notion and stands it on its
head. Rather than shopping being seen as part of our culture, the new view says
that our culture is shopping. Period. 
Well, if culture is shopping, then Montréal
must be one of the cultural capitals of the world! But while the city's always
been a magnet for food and fashion shoppers, it may be less well known as an
antiquer's paradise. And, sticking with our theory for a moment, when we're
shopping for antiques, what we're really buying is history, memory, community,
beauty, in other words, our culture. 
A few feet further on, and across the
street-this tour is going to zigzag from sidewalk to sidewalk-is Deni Blanchet.
Its corner-facing building is one of the prettiest on the street, and inside is
full of fascinating finds, chosen because they appealed to the tastes and whims
of Mr. Blanchet and his assistant. A sub-speciality here is antique
taxidermy-wonderful old stuffed birds and beasts! Unique too are their
'recycled' antiques, like old coffee tables turned into elegant upholstered
ottomans. And a set of Louis XV bed-stairs, refurbished and equipped with a
secret compartment.
A few doors along is Retro-Ville. This is
Montréal's original nostalgia store and its owners boast of their unrivalled
collection of old advertising, magazines, toys, neon signs, country store
items, bottles, tins, signs, memorabilia. Once inside, most visitors are
immediately and joyously awash in nostalgia, surrounded by objects from their
youth-things believed long lost or forgotten. Next is the Cascades Lounge, specializing in old toys. Model trains, Dinky toys, Meccano sets, games-talk
about nostalgia for the male animal! 
And now for something completely different!
A group of elegant, up-scale shops clustered in the next two blocks. Antiquités
Claude Blain, Freddy Weil, Antiquités Michelle Parent, Daniel Malinowsky,
Vendome-all display elegant continental furniture and furnishings, as well as
their various specialties: mirrors, silver, paintings and other objets d'art.
The other co-op is a newer concept for
Montréal but quite familiar to Americans. Michael Bergeron and his staff manage
a two-floor space “Antiquités Le Design” which is rented to 23 members of a co-operative.
The owners fill anything from a showcase to a corner 'store,' but they are not
actually present themselves. Instead, the staff has price lists along with
bargaining limits set by each individual proprietor. Items on display range
from the mid-1800s to late 1900s, with each owner having a different niche
market. So the whole space feels fantastically varied.