Article Last Updated: Sunday, Apr 03, 2005 - 11:04:59 pm PDT

Even the building is antique

By Claire St. John

DIXON - Glorie Antiques Home Garden Gift has been here and there in Dixon for six years, but has only recently found its true home.Owner Mary Salaber has moved the business three times, each time buying the building Glorie occupies. Although she and husband Rob Salaber have owned the new location at 165 N. First Street since 1999, they were only able to move into it after swapping with The Embroidery Shop of Dixon.

Built in 1884 after the Great Fire of 1883 burned down all the wooden buildings on Main Street, the shop was originally the Mason Hall. After two months of stripping flooring and plaster, Glorie boasts glowing hardwood floors and brick walls soaring up to a high ceiling."We spent the last two months exposing the old beautiful hardwood floors, removing some of the dropped ceiling, scraping off paint, just trying to restore it to its elegance," Rob Salaber said.

Although Mary Salaber spent part of her career as a manager and buyer for specialty clothing boutiques in Sacramento and the Bay Area, she decided Glorie would reflect her own interests.

"I had always liked antiques," she said. "And I had a ton of them at home."Her antiques are elegant, with not a vintage Batman comic book or a Coca-Cola emblazoned tin sign in sight. The store is sparse with spindly racks displaying a variety of needful things interspersed with new items, including delicate earrings and French, triple-milled soaps.

With more space in the new location, Salaber has started a wholesale line of vintage holiday pieces that she produces and ships from the spacious back room."We have a great mix," Salaber said. "When you walk in, it looks like everything is an antique."But with a little browsing, a downtown shopper just might see the Glorie of it all.

The shop is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Reach Claire St. Johnat 427-6955 or cstjohn@dailyrepublic.net.

Glorie Antiques Home Garden Gift

Owner: Mary Salaber

Date opened: March 12

Address: 165 N. First St., DixonPhone: 678-5499