At the Ole Red Barn: Sisters bring antique business experience to Winchester

Published 1:19 pm Thursday, June 1, 2017

When sisters Kathy Clark and Joyce Watson opened The Ole Red Barn Mall on May 1, they did not anticipate the demand for space their new antique mall would draw.

Watson and Clark both have years of experience selling antiques, and until recently, both of them operated booths in Powell County to sell their wares.

However, when the mall they were part of closed, the two decided to open their own facility in Winchester.

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With the help of their husbands, Roy Watson of Watson Building, and Anthony Clark, the sisters renovated the old McCammish Manufacturing building on Winn Avenue.

After a portion of the building was finished, Clark, Watson and several others quickly put their items on display, with a total of 13 vendors operating out of The Ole Red Barn currently. However, there is demand for more.

“We have more than 30 vendors waiting on booths,” Clark said. “So our expansion is continuing.”

The sisters say their goal for the near future is to bring the vendor capacity at The Ole Red Barn to 50. If they believe further expansion is feasible, they said they can make room for a total of 100 vendors.

While the mall mainly deals in antiques and crafts, Walton said a variety of items can be found at the mall.

The Ole Red Barn also contains a bit of local history within its walls. The building itself is more than 140 years old, having been used in the past as both a tobacco warehouse and then a headquarters for the McCammish Manufacturing Company, which built custom furniture.

The building also houses Roy Watson’s collection of antique horse-drawn carriages and buggies. One of the carriages is on display inside the antique mall portion of the space, and the sisters said when the expansion is finished, they hope to have more out on the floor to showcase pieces of the region’s history.

Additionally, some of the furniture displayed in the mall was made from wood taken from the building during renovations, Roy Watson said.

The Ole Red Barn Mall, 148 Winn Ave. is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.