Alley//dt1st/mark2nd

By DANIEL TAUB

Staff Reporter

For years, Antique Alley has been a destination for those wanting to buy or at least window-shop for old movie posters, antique costume jewelry, secondhand Hawaiian shirts, aging Barbie dolls and board games based on ’70s television shows.

But along with the rest of the “Dell” portion of Farmers Market, Antique Alley soon will be torn down to make way for The Grove, a shopping center whose planned tenants include Nordstrom, The Gap, Crate & Barrel, Banana Republic and Pacific Theatres. Antique Alley’s last day in business will be Sept. 26.

The Alley is not really going away. Stanford “Skip” Petersen and his wife Patricia, who have run Antique Alley since 1989, are moving their creation to be renamed “Collectors Gallery” to West L.A.’s Westside Pavilion shopping mall, where they will be open for business on Oct. 9.

“We think this is going to be a really exciting experiment,” said Skip Petersen, noting that the success of the PBS series “Antiques Roadshow” and eBay Inc.’s Internet auction site have demonstrated that the general public has a taste for antiques and collectibles. “I think eBay has definitely helped stimulate the general public to the excitement of buying and selling.”

Kathy Santiago is one of the Antique Alley tenants moving to the new location. She has two display cases there one with action figures, and another with Hot Wheels cars and Beanie Babies. “I would imagine it’s going to be a little different crowd, but a bigger crowd,” she said. “So it’ll balance itself out.”

Indeed, the crowd will be different and is likely to lack some of Antique Alley’s loyal customers.

Lila Serber, who lives in the Fairfax district and was browsing at Antique Alley last week, said she has been coming to Farmers Market since she was growing up in the area and attending Fairfax High School, and has been coming to Antique Alley since it opened.

“I bought this ring here,” she said, holding up her hand. “I’ve bought a lot of stuff here.”

But she is unlikely to visit the new Collectors Gallery, given its location across town. “I hate to see this leave,” she said.

The Petersens, who also run the Westchester Faire Antique Mall, are taking with them 60 of Antique Alley’s 110 tenants, each of whom rent one or more glass cases to display their antique cigarette lighters, snow globes, “Star Wars” action figures and other collectibles.

The space at the Westside Pavilion will be smaller than the Farmers Market location just 6,500 square feet compared to Antique Alley’s 15,000 square feet.

And because the cost of running the new site will be higher it will be open an additional 28 hours each week the mix of merchandise also will change.

Superhero action figures, Hot Wheels cars and board games from ’70s TV shows like “Happy Days” and “The Bionic Woman” all of which are more popular among many collectors than traditional antiques will still have a place, as will antique china and jewelry. But the quality of merchandise, from kitschy to classy, will be higher, the Petersens say.

“We’re going to dramatically lift the quality standards,” Skip Petersen said, adding that dealers at the Collectors Gallery will be limited to those selling higher-quality wares. “This is kind of a junky old space, so we were able to get away with some junky old stuff. It’ll be a little bit different over there.”

Joe O’Brien, who had a box of Hawaiian records tucked under his arm while shopping at Antique Alley last week, said he would frequent the new location to shop for items for Banana Joe’s, a Polynesian-themed gift shop he owns in Venice. But he worries that the new location will mean higher prices.

Skip Petersen acknowledges that the new location will be a more upscale affair and will not have the same vibe Antique Alley has.

“This is a very loved place for people from all over Southern California,” he said. “We enjoyed being here very much and we’re going to miss it. We wish we didn’t have to leave.”

But if the new location works out at the Westside Pavilion, he said it could lead to a franchising of similar antique collectives at other malls. “This is where the real challenge is at the mall to see if this works,” he said.