Photography by Mark Layman
By Brenda Layman
John and Vicky Hewer don’t couch their opinions of the business they run in Olde Pickerington Village – they describe it as “quite possibly the coolest store ever.”
The Hewers are the owners of antique shop 27 West & Co., named for its address – 27 W. Columbus St. – in the building that was once the Central Hotel.
The inside is surprisingly large and filled with an artistically curated collection with an emphasis on upcycling, the art of using vintage finds to create things that are beautiful and new. The Hewers opened the store in March 2012.
“We’ve always loved antiques,” Vicky says, “It was a hobby of ours.”
When the couple happened upon a store in Ohio’s Amish country where the proprietors were selling the entire inventory, they took a chance and bought the whole lot. Their original idea was to sell the collection on the Internet. The next day, the Hewers called their daughters, Misty Bookman and Christy Jocek, and told them what they had done.
“The girls immediately said we should open a shop,” Vicky says. “Soon after that, we saw that this building was for sale. It all seemed right, so we bought it.”
The Hewers have lived in Pickerington for 24 years, so a spot in the Olde Village was a natural location for them, John says. In addition to owning the business, Vicky is a non-denominational Christian minister and John is general manager at U.S. Corrugated Inc. in Lancaster.
Daughters Misty and Christy have come on board with the shop, creating displays, upcycling vintage finds and supporting their parents’ venture.
“They’ve added so much to it,” says Vicky, pointing out a whimsical display of items underneath a branch covered in crisp paper leaves, one of Christy’s many artistic creations.
Misty and Christy are both graduates of Pickerington High School, as is the Hewers’ son, Andy.
The family repaints furniture and gives it a distressed, worn appeal with colors that fit into today’s homes. Architectural pieces, such as wooden window frames and painted furnishings, are popular as well.
“Painted furniture is the hot thing,” says John, a certified personal property apprasier. “Some pieces don’t need fixing, and we sell them with the original finish.”
Wandering through the store is a fascinating experience. The entry holds an arrangement of old doors and windows, accented with vintage wooden card table chairs with seats recovered in a handsome tartan fabric, arranged next to antique books and stone jugs. Other rooms contain milk-glass tableware juxtaposed with furniture painted white and outfitted with black-and-white seat covers. A vase holds big, fluffy paper flowers made from old sewing patterns.
The kitchen is chockablock with vintage utensils, serving pieces, books and a charming breadbox from bygone days. The walls are covered with vintage prints and old maps. One room is entirely papered in old land use documents, another in pages from old books.
One upstairs room is designated the “Salvage Central Room.” Here the finds are in a jumble, ready to be discovered.
“People like to have the opportunity to root,” Vicky says.
The wooden sales counter and the shelves behind it came from the Amish store. They are painted a distressed white and green, and the shelves are filled with delicate, sparkling crystal goblets and glasses. An area that was once one of the building’s seven bathrooms is now a nook that holds a ticking wall clock and a full set of dainty china dishes. Tools of various trades have found their way into the collection, too, along with household items such as pet carriers and an extensive collection of vinyl records.
“Our store is not just an antique shop,” John says. “We are an idea shop, a home decorating resource. We want it to be so wonderful that when people come in, they just love it.”
Pickerington resident Brenda Layman is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com
