By William Smith
Pat Schreiner didn’t love antiques at first.
But her late husband, Jim Schreiner, certainly did. And when she fell in love with him, she fell for his primary hobby.
That’s how The 901 Shoppe on Main Street was born.
“My husband and I enjoyed going to auctions and buying things. It finally got to the point where we needed someplace for it all to go,” Pat said. “The best sales were farm sales. You can find a lot of things on hayracks, and people don’t know what they are.”
It’s been 22 years since she and Jim started their antique shop.
Due to an accident that broke both of Pat’s legs in 2011, she didn’t walk for nearly half of that time.
But Pat persevered.
“When we first started out, we had a little building on Oak Street. We grew out of that real fast,” she said.
The Schreiners ended up at 901 S. Main St. a year or two later, buying the building from Pat’s brother. Pat’s husband asked her to name it, and she went the practical route, working the address into the name of the shop.
That was in 2000. A few years later, as the business continued to grow, they added an extension to the garage.
“We needed the room,” Pat said, with a grin.
A native of Burlington and graduate of Burlington High School, Pat held a variety of jobs before opening The 901 Shoppe, working the longest for the former Burlington Medical Center downtown. She left that job after marrying Jim.
“He collected a lot of things back then. And then, when we started going to auctions and things like that, I really got into it,” she said.
Falling for antiques
Those were glorious days. Pat had started developing her own tastes in antiques by then. Her favorites are Coca-Cola items, including an original table and set of chairs she owns, and eyewash cups.
For some reason, eyewash cups, which may sound foreign to younger generations, really captured her attention. The little cups were used to clean out a person’s eye and simply required the user to hold the water-filled cup over the eye, creating a seal so the water couldn’t escape.
Pat uses eyewash cups to this day.
“A lot of people think it’s weird,” she said with a laugh. “People don’t know what they are, and you wouldn’t believe how many of them there are. Some are flat, and some have pedestals. All different colors.”
Losing Jim
Pat was devastated when her husband Jim died in 2009. She lost the love of her life, her best friend, and her business partner.
But she was determined to carry on the shop, not just for herself, but for the memory of her lost husband.
“I was told that I wouldn’t be able to keep it open without him. Well, I have. But he’s always in the back of my head, telling me what to do. He taught me a lot,” she said.
Jim had a knack for digging the treasure out of the junk. He breathed auctions and antiques and had a good business sense, which he passed on to Pat.
“One of the first things he taught me is that when you have to take your personal money and put it into the business, it’s time to get out. Luckily, I have not had to do that. It’s been pretty close,” Pat said.
Nearly losing her legs
Pat and Jim lived in a cabin by the Mississippi River. A few years after his death, Pat suffered an accident inside the cabin that nearly took her legs and her livelihood.
“I was at my cabin, and some Sheetrock that was stacked up broke loose, and it was like a domino effect. It all fell on me,” she said.
The weight of the Sheetrock pulverized Pat’s legs, causing multiple compound fractures in each of them. Doctors were afraid they would have to amputate and performed experimental surgery to save her legs.
Doctors were able to accomplish the task by inserting steel rods into her legs, but it took Pat nine years of rehab, bone grafts, and several more surgeries before she was able to walk without assistance.
“(The doctor) wouldn’t know if I would be able to walk again,” she said. “I’m very, very lucky.”
Maintaining an antique shop without the ability to walk proved nearly impossible and would have been without the help of family.
“Between my sister and everyone, they kept my shop open part-time. I lived upstairs, but when I was able, I would make it down the 22 steps,” Pat said. “My sister did it for as long as she could. She did it for quite a while.”
The shop gave Pat a reason to get up every morning and fight through the pain. The help from family and friends was invaluable, but eventually, Pat had to run the shop by herself again.
“If there’s something wrong and I can’t open, I can’t open. I don’t have anyone I can rely on,” she said.
Pat used to be open six days a week. That was reduced to two days a week at the start of her comeback and grew to four days a week. That’s about as much as she could take, according to her doctors.
Some unusual antiques
Pat has a lot of weird, interesting items in her shop, mostly sold to her by prospective customers. She does like to make it out to the occasional estate sale, but much of the auction scene has ventured online in recent years, she said.
“When we first opened up, we sold a brothel bathtub. It was in a wood case,” she said.
One of her most prized possessions is a set of wooden golf clubs that once belonged to Burlington golfing great Bonny Weaver, who started working for the Burlington Golf Club as a pro in 1918. Each club has Weaver’s name on it.
Trying to predict what her customers will be interested in is nearly impossible, though.
“You just never know. I have a lot of out-of-town people, and they’ll find something they’ve been looking for. You can’t judge from day to day what people are going to buy. Right now, people like bookcases and chests of drawers. Other times, they want rocking chairs,” she said.
Staying in business
Pat wasn’t on her feet again until 2020, and by then construction projects along Main Street chased away much of her business.
“I’ve had a hard time getting going again,” she said.
But there are still enough dedicated customers and out-of-towners to make the continuing venture worthwhile. She just wishes the younger generation was more interested in her merchandise.
“The younger generation isn’t into antiques. They want the stuff they can buy that is cheaper. It’s kind of tough for antiques right now. Hopefully, it will come back,” she said.
No matter how the market looks, Pat plans on staying right where she is, doing what she’s done for the past 22 years. Her life is inside that shop. Memories of her late husband are around every corner.
Pat wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
“I’m walking on my own two legs,” she said. “I didn’t think that would happen again.”