Vintage Hardware to swap Astor Hotel for Riverwalk

Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The well-worn, cavernous lobby of the John Jacob Astor Hotel may have been a perfect fit for Vintage Hardware, but the historic showroom will soon be looking for a new suitor.

Vintage Hardware, which has called the hotel home since 2010, will close up shop there May 4. It will reopen a couple of blocks down, in the former Englund Marine building at 101 15th St., by the start of Mothers Day weekend May 11.

Co-owners Becky Johnson and Paul Tuter said the move is a business decision, consolidating their operations in one rather than two locations.

The Astor Hotel, its been I call it her its been wonderful for us, said Tuter, who also builds custom furniture in Vintage Hardware with his company My Grandfathers Nails. Its got a wonderful look. It draws you into it.

He and Johnson, only business partners, but commonly mistaken for a married couple, met each other at a flea market about six years ago and started a partnership that grew into Vintage Hardware. Tuter was building furniture, Johnson had been a professional upholsterer for some time. In addition to her upholstery, Johnson runs most of the marketing of the business.

If its funky, we like it, said Johnson about the store, where customers can find anything from bed parts to cash registers, doors to musical instruments. We take just about anything as long as its vintage. Ninety-five percent of the inventory, she added, comes from Clatsop County. Its usually the 80s or earlier, unless its a really quality piece of furniture.

They moved from Malama Day Spas location on 14th Street into the Astors southwest corner storefront and hotel lobby, lightly dilapidated to the point of adding character, and other than some work to the ceiling and decoration kept it as is.

Its been a real privilege to open it up for the community, said Johnson about the space, bought by developers Paul Caruana and Brian Faherty in 2008 and fixed up substantially. It houses businesses on the ground floor and federally subsidized housing on the top six.

I know people have really appreciated coming in and looking at the space, said Johnson. There are a lot of memories here weddings and anniversaries, and dance classes. Thats been a real honor to be like a steward of the building.

Englund Marine

Since Englund Marine & Industrial Supply left its waterfront location eight years ago, the unassuming blueish building has been for sale, occupied occasionally by charities, fundraisers and one-off shops for the Bicentennial and Goonies anniversary.

Vintage Hardwares new showroom spreads out with darkly stained hardwood floors and an entire wall of cubby holes formerly holding fishing and maritime supplies and perfect for its own knickknacks. Johnson said they plan on paying homage to the history of Englund Marine, painting over the light blue a high-gloss white and adding a marine-esque backdrop. The Astor Hotel can make it harder to see their items, added Johnson, because its coolness competes with them.

Through a small walkway, past their new offices, is an even larger area for sorting storage and do-it-yourself projects, along with some space in the back for My Grandfathers Nails and classes.

Tuter said the building started in 1941 as the Regatta Building, but burned down right before that years festivities. Englund Marine founder Axel Englund bought the property in 1942 and two years later opened a store that would operate there until 2006.

The area Vintage Hardware is leasing totals just under 16,000 square feet, said co-owner Kurt Englund of Englund Marine. The store occupies the west side, while Englund Marine uses the east for storage.

Its a tough piece of property to sell, said Englund, adding that the company still has to pay property taxes along with payments to the Department of State Lands, as the buildings on pilings over the Columbia River.

The company will continue lightly marketing the building, something Englund said Johnson and Tuter knew about going into a lease.

Johnson said she and Tuter were thrilled to hear about the tens of thousands of passengers who rode the trolley outside their new location last year, adding that theres been talk of adding an unofficial stop.

Lums Auto

We are the proud owners of one of the largest chicken legs in Astoria, said Tuter, hoisting up an ornamental drumstick advertising Chicken Bills in Seaside. It has been hidden away in the warehouse space inside the former Lums Auto Center in Astoria.

Its gems like those the two would like to showcase in one space, instead of shuttling between a storefront and the warehouse. At the new location, all those functions will be in one building.

Well have stuff available on the floor that is available to buy as is, said Johnson, adding that 80 percent of the stuff in storage is ready to sell. And if there comes a project that we want to do, then we will just grab it off the floor. But meanwhile, its not just stuck up in a warehouse that nobody can see and have access to.

Theyll take as much as they can to the new location, said Johnson, and there will be a sale of excess items by the end of May, along with a vintage flea market from June through October.