In the outskirts of Medina, Ohio, sits a 52,000 square foot building filled with 250 vendors offering all kinds of wonderful things. This is the Medina Antique Mall, which has been in operation for over 21 years. It is so popular that buyers come from as close as Cleveland and Akron to as far away as Japan and China whose visitors are looking for jade and ivory and English shoppers seeking out vintage clothing.

The Mall has probably the highest class management of any similar operation. It was started by Gifford Brown, a Ford Motor Company executive and antique collector, and is now run by owner and manager, Jean Koepke, a former credit and financial services manager with a major banking corporation.

It is also set up in a rather different way from most antique malls. We are pre-1980 on the main floor.  Aisles 1-11 may not contain any items post-1975. The 700 Room may have newer or older items, such as new and used furniture. And the two collectible rooms, #2 and #3, can also carry newer items.

"We have two major restrictions on what we carry," said Koepke, "no crafts and no reproductions. If we find any we ask the dealer to remove them." These standards were set up when the Mall originally opened 21 years ago.

"During my time, some seven years now, I have learned a lot about the antique business," said Koepke. "The dealers really have done their homework."

The two mantras of the business are "pricing and presentation. We focus on marking items fairly and at market value and keeping booths and showcases looking attractive," she added.

The Medina Mall sells a lot of furniture, jewelry, glassware, and pottery. "We try to figure out why certain things move and others don't and we have narrowed it down to more furniture sold in fall as people are nesting before the cold weather," she explained. They are also seeing more estate sales and people downsizing, which is bringing more merchandise.

One of the Mall's prime collectible dealers is Joe Dinardo, who also works part-time in the mall as a floorwalker. After retirement from the Giant-Eagle grocery store chain, he was looking for a part-time opportunity. He now has a booth dealing mainly with baseball cards, autographs, and other sports memorabilia.

"I have a personal collection of complete sets of baseball cards from the 60s, 70s, and 80s from Topps, Fleer, Donruss, and Score," noted Dinardo. But he does not sell from this stock.

Over the years he has accumulated what he calls "a huge inventory." His store had a large candy department and as an employee he could buy enough to gather a considerable amount of baseball cards. "I would make a set for myself and sell off some of the rest. I continued to do that until the early 90s. I kept all of it in storage until I started working at the Mall in 2003."

Dinardo also trades in autographs, but with a caveat, he has to be the person who gets the autograph. "Too many times now, someone in a club, not necessarily the player, signs the cards." He specializes in all Cleveland sports franchises and his two favorite players are Rocky Calavito and Reggie Jackson. "One of my most prized possessions is a baseball bat signed "Reggie Jackson - Mr. October."

He described a major change in the baseball card market. There has been so much mass-production since the 90s that it produced a glut in the market, and coupled with E-bay, has made trading in baseball cards more of a challenge. "The gum companies have issued their production numbers to show that they are limiting the number of cards printed, but they are still very expensive," he added.

If someone today decided to do a sports collection, Dinardo recommends they invest in anything before 1970 - autographs, gloves, bats, and memorabilia. "You will do better than speculating in what is now on the market."

Working in the Mall also has an added advantage - "I get first choice when new items come in," he said.

The Medina Mall holds two big sales events a year: one in spring and one starting the day after Thanksgiving to the end of December. They also have periodic no sales tax days and hold mini-antique road show appraisal events with the funds raised donated to a local charity.

Every Saturday between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. anyone can bring in an item and if a dealer is interested, he or she will make an offer. There is no charge for this, but Koepke reminds people that the dealer is paying wholesale not retail.

For the convenience of customers there is also the 18-71 Café which features soups, sandwiches, and ice cream. It is open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10: a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday.

The Medina Antique Mall is located on 2797 Medina Road. It is open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sunday to Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday. All major credit cards are accepted. 2797 Medina Road. You can visit us online at  www.themedinaantiquemall.com