Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
Click here for additonal images of 4 Quarters.
Paths are worn between the houses of Janet Reed, Marian Taylor, Sandy Husmann, and Misty Hallisey in the WingHaven neighborhood. They’ve memorized each other’s garage codes. “We all live right by each other, and we were always junking or building or crafting,” Reed says. “It’s what we love.”
Two years ago, after building a backlog of materials, the friends realized they had two options: stop shopping or start selling. The group got going with a small booth in the St. Charles Antique Mall. Since then, their shop, 4 Quarters (7865 Highway N, 636-695-2940, 4quarterstimelessvintage.com), has moved five times. The foursome recently opened their latest storefront in a strip mall in Dardenne Prairie.
“If we love it old, we keep it old,” explains Husmann of the store’s selection. “If we feel it needs a new home, we try to find a new purpose for it, freshen it up, paint it.” And sometimes, the store’s owners build it from scratch. “We built the barn-wood table in the back for our classes,” says Reed. Among other things, the shop’s monthly classes teach do-it-yourself skills like how to turn a frame into a chalkboard or how to transform pages from an old book into a wreath for the holidays.
For the store’s co-owners, the joy remains in the treasure hunt. They spend the early part of each week knocking the dust off of items at local flea markets, estate sales, and auctions. “Misty and I have knocked on people’s doors before,” Reed says. “We are mini pickers in middle Missouri.”
They’re looking for old trunks, wire baskets, headboards, crates, suitcases, typewriters… Shutters become room dividers. Trunks are transformed into coffee tables. Doors are rebuilt into new shelves.
“It doesn’t feel like a job,” Taylor says. “When we expanded, the husbands were happy because the garages got a little bit cleared out.”
“I haven’t parked my car in the garage for at least three years,” Reed says with a laugh. “You know, you empty it out, and then you just fill it back up.”
