Lehighton antique shop owner pays tribute to grandparents

Owning an antique shop isn’t just a way of preserving history or a way to save a treasure for someone seeking it.

Owning an antique shop for Yvonne Stoudt is a way to have her grandparents with her every day.

On the top shelf that runs the length of two walls at Beautiful Hidden Treasures in Lehighton are Stoudt’s memories of her grandparents — their treasures.

“I just like being around my grandparents,” Stoudt said. “It was their everyday things that we worked with. The pie plates and Pyrex that my grandmother showed me how to cook things in. My grandfather was also like, ‘Come out to the barn with me,’ so I would help him around the tractor.”

Everything below that shelf are treasures she has gathered from estate auctions, yard sales and the like; treasures that other people can purchase and take home.

She calls her collection “very eclectic,” but they are things she loves, things she could see in her own home, things that remind her of her grandparents.

“I have the different things for different reasons, but it all comes back to my grandparents,” she said. “That’s fun for me.”

Even the building that houses her shop on Bankway Street has history to her family. It is the location of the former Stoudt’s Auto Repair run by her father-in-law, Robert Stoudt.

The building dates back to the 1930s, she said. It was originally a Packard dealership, a Willys auto dealership, and then the Mangold’s dry cleaning service. She has a bulletin board by the front door chronicling the building’s history.

“I remember it being a dry cleaners,” she said. “I would come here with my mom, or for my mom and pick things up for her.”

Stoudt decided to open a store when she ran out of room for her antiques at a booth in the Weissport Antique Mall. Her husband, Lloyd Stoudt, suggested his father’s auto restoration shop, which they acquired in 2008. Now, she has a storefront and has been open officially for a year as of Jan. 15. Her hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. They are closed on Sunday and Monday.

The store has everything from the evolution of the slotted serving spoons to clocks, lamps and colored glassware. It’s a blend of old things and a few new things, like signs she creates with sayings and Scriptures on them. She said her store has a farmhouse, country feel with old woods and rustic metals.

When it comes to selecting items for her store, Stoudt said that although she loves to do research about antiques, she relies on her gut.

“Your house is only so big, right? But you know when you’re going shopping and you’re like, ‘Boy, I would love that,’ ” she said. “I’ll get it anyway. Someone else will love it in their home.”

Stoudt said she also likes to keep her prices low.

“If you love it, I want you to be able to afford it,” she said.

About the business

Owner: Yvonne Stoudt

Address: 185 Bankway St., Lehighton

Phone: 484-629-2482

Website: https://beautiful-hidden-treasures.business.site

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Beautiful-Hidden-Treasures-338330693629909/

Advice for new entrepreneurs: Be brave. Be bold. I wanted to do it long before I did. Don’t let fear stop you. If you have a dream, pursue it.