Nana's Antiques Moves to Main Street

By Leigh Wills

A Hendersonville antiques store has found a new home on Main Street.

Nana's Antiques had been located for two years at West Allen and Church streets. But last week, owners Lauren and Kathy Bandy officially opened their new location in the former site of Delton & David at 225 North Main St. Lauren says he loves the new location because it gives him exactly what he wants - a steady stream of customers.

"We needed to get out of our other location because I needed more traffic flow, and we've got it here," he says inside the new site. "We made more money in our first five days here than we made all of January last year at the old location. It's very pleasant looking, and those double doors are very inviting. People just come in."

Lauren has a particularly interesting background that doesn't involve antiques. He is a former professional country musician and airline pilot. His music career took him all over the country as a member of Country Music Hall of Fame member Tom T. Hall's band. A flying enthusiast, Lauren gave up the life of a musician to pursue a career in aviation.

He says he and his wife managed to turn a hobby into a business when Kathy expressed a desire to eventually get out of nursing.

"We were just antiquers. We liked to go and look at antiques," Lauren says. "We did that for well over 20 years. After a while, we had a game. How much is that cabinet worth? And we'd guess, and we would be very, very close. We got to know what we were doing because we did it for so long and because we enjoyed it."

Kathy is the Nana in Nana's Antiques, a name bestowed upon her by her grandchildren. But Lauren says the moniker is starting to attach itself to him. People he knows who see him on the street often greet him as Nana. He says if that's what it takes to make him and the business unique, then he doesn't mind the name.

Lauren says he and his wife are particularly fond of Depression-era antique pieces, but he and his vendors offer a wide range of merchandise. People who visit can find something for as little as $3 to items costing thousands. The downtown location currently rents space to eight antique vendors, and Lauren says he has room to bring in more. He and his wife also offer display cases for vendors to rent.

"There's a little something for everybody," he says. "If somebody doesn't like one thing, they are going to like something else."

Nana's Antiques can be reached at 828-697-8979.