Strolling down the sidewalk of downtown Willoughby, it’s hard to imagine that Eastside Relics is a temporary home to around 100,000 antiques, from trunks and oil lamps to vinyl records, Coca-Cola collectibles, toys and even a late 1800s barber’s chair that came off the caboose of a railroad train. Ryan Prpic, who co-owns it with his father, Marko, favors the sports memorabilia.
During the summer, 25-year-old Prpic and his dad, who’s been a collector since he was 14, travel at least once a month to auctions, estate sales, closed down bars and anywhere else they can get their hands on a piece of history.
While beer signs are among the most popular selling items, you can also find unique merchandise — like a pair of small, delicate glasses from the Civil War era.
“Older people like the stuff because it brings back memories from their childhoods,” Prpic says. “But little kids enjoy it most of all — they don’t know what things like rotary phones are.”
4077 Erie St., Willoughby, 440-251-9976, eastsiderelics.com
