Pam Eggleston and Molly Easter didn’t plan to own a vintage and antique shop. Only three years ago, Molly was working at Mint Hill Animal Hospital while her mother Pam cared for her children and her own mother. “We had always talked about going into Vintage on the Hill up there on 24/27,” says Easter. “We had a couple of extra minutes one day, so we drove down there. We walked in, and the owner’s mother was in there covering the shop and started talking about how he was going to get married and they were going to move to Africa for a while, and I said, ‘Well, if he ever want to sell, give us a call!’”
They owned the shop less than a month and a half later. Pam took ownership of Vintage on the Hill in Midland two and a half years ago. “I own the business – they do everything else!” says Eggleston, referring to daughter Molly and long-time family friend Scott Smith. “We seek out and buy vintage and antique furniture,” says Eggleston, “And if it needs to be refinished, Molly and Scott refinish, repaint, repurpose or repair it.”
Finding the right thing is something of a specialty for Easter. “If people have things they are looking for, they come in and tell Molly,” say Eggleston, who terms her daughter “The Queen of I found it.” Eggleston tells the story of the time her daughter found an old wedding chapel to move to a venue in North Carolina before a client had even pulled out of the driveway. “It’s all out there,” says Easter. “You just have to know where to look for it.”
“I mean seriously, she needs to have a business called, ‘I Found It.’” continues Eggleston. “And I’ll be right beside with one that says, ‘If She Didn’t, I’ll Build it,’” chimes in Smith, a self-proclaimed, “Pinterest Geek” who handles Vintage on the Hill’s building and custom work. Smith started out making pallet flags and small pieces for Vintage on the Hill but loved the work so much that he stuck around. “Once I got my foot in the door, I figured I’m just gonna hang around here,” jokes Smith. “Eventually, they said, ‘All right, you can stay.’”
If you don’t need something built from scratch, Vintage on the Hill can also work with you to refinish a piece you already have. “If a customer has great grandma’s whatever and it doesn’t suit them anymore, and they want to bring it in,” says Eggleston, “We’ll refinish, repaint, restore – whatever needs to be done.”
On Saturday, November 4, Vintage on the Hill held a Christmas Open House to welcome clients to their new Mint Hill showroom located behind Spotlight Performing Arts Academy. Opened only a few weeks ago, the satellite showroom has opened up a new market for Vintage on the Hill as well as proven more convenient for many existing clients.
The Christmas Open House was a big success for Vintage on the Hill. “If you had been there two hours ago, there was hardly any standing room,” says Molly. “It’s been like that since 9:00 this morning,” adds Eggleston, “and we open at 10:00!”
A stop at the new location will show you that Vintage on the Hill has more to offer than just furniture. Currently stocked with Christmas vintage decor, Vintage on the Hill offers smaller decorative vintage items like wall hangings and trays as well as small gifts like candles, Christmas ornaments and jewlery. “I love all the little stuff,” says Eggleston, referring to the shop’s selection of vintage home decor.
They’re also an authorized retailer of Farmhouse Paint, the brand they use to refinish furniture themselves. In the new year, Easter hopes to begin offering classes on how to distress and paint furniture to obtain the popular “farmhouse-look” you see in her store.
Vintage on the Hill’s Mint Hill showroom is open Tuesday – Thursday from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. You can keep up with things happening at the store through their web site (https://www.vintageonthehillnc.com/) and their Facebook page.
