Island Life Magazine Ltd April/May 2007 | Page 109

LOCAL BUSINESS

- life

Coach House Antiques offer
real value for money
When Jane Reeves retired
from hotel work she thought
she’d be able to relax and
start enjoying her horses fulltime.
But when she found the pension
she had been saving towards for
years was worth next to nothing her
son came up with Plan B.
Jane, 62, now runs Coach House
Antiques in Regent Street, Shanklin
and it has given her a new lease of
life.
She explains: “My son is an
antique dealer and his wife is on the
more modern side of the furniture
business.
“He said I can either subsidise you
or I can set you up in a business.
“Our son bought the shop and we
pay him rent but everything else is
down to my husband and I.
“We decide what we want to order
and how much.
“It’s been a sharp learning curve. I
have had to learn to do the computer
to do orders and learn window
dressing.
“I sometimes phone my son for
advice because he’s in the business
on the mainland but it’s been trial

and error really.
“I am really enjoying it though.
I love meeting people and selling
them lovely things.”
Jane’s shop has been open since
last November and stocks beautiful
oak furniture and white wooden
furniture similar to many of the
fashionable shops found on the
mainland.
The difference is that Jane’s stock
is a fraction of the cost.
Jane adds: “we have seen the same
tray on a stand for £140 on the
mainland whereas ours is £25.
“People like the fact that things
in our shop are sensibly priced and
stock has been flying out of the
shop.
“I bought a couple of ornamental
sheep to put in the window,
thinking they’d be all right for a bit
of fun.
“I went into the shop the next day
and found my assistant had already
sold them!”
Coach House Antiques can be
found in Regent Street, Shanklin
next to the Nationwide Building
Society. Contact: 01983 868