Owners: Bill & Renee Franklin, Meredith & Chuck Jefferson, Jake Franklin
By Ann Marie Byrd, Feature Writer
Franklin’s, although relatively new to the community at only six years old, is already an iconic fixture in New Bern. Located at 215 East Front Street, just across from Union Point Park, this massive 12,000 square foot building is filled with not only stunningly beautiful antiques curated by the most knowledgeable of dealers, but also new home goods, clothing, bath and body care, a general store with food products, and custom-made live edge wood tables.
Now I don’t know about you, but I’m not a picker. I don’t particularly enjoy digging through dusty piles of god knows what, to find something discarded by someone, for some random reason from—well, somewhere. Maybe someday, when I have more time on my hands, but for now, nope.
So I was skeptical. And that being said, I was very pleasantly surprised when I visited Franklin’s—it’s clean and organized, and each booth had at least one treasure that caught my eye.
The thirty-five dealer spaces are clearly divided and they’ve created a unique and diverse representation of antique vendors of the highest quality. They include vintage kitchen items, cast iron, barrister cabinets, vintage linens and lace, antique coins, garden items, collectable cards, mid-century clothes and furniture, vintage Christmas items, china and crystal, antique dolls and one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture. Within this marvelous collection are also vendors that carry new merchandise as well.
In July of last year, Franklin’s—which used to be called Franklin’s Antique Mall—changed their name to reflect the changes in their merchandising. “We are no longer just carrying antiques. It’s still the heart of the business, but we now have new home goods as well,” says Meredith Jefferson, who collaborates with her family in handling the marketing, buying and decorating in the store. “Our showroom floor displays how to effectively mix together vintage and antique styles with new items to create a beautiful and eclectic style in your home.” Meredith’s daughters, Caroline and Scarlett, also have their own vendor space with vintage dolls, and the sales go into their college fund. Her husband, Chuck, is also active in the business, creating gorgeous custom-made live-edge wood tables.
Franklin’s has always been a family venture; Bill Franklin, Meredith’s father, started selling and auctioning antiques in Vanceboro in 2012, and used to be a part of New Bern Antiques. “Renee and I are retired educators with a background in administration leadership,” says Bill. “We used to say that maybe one day we would own a little antique store,” and then he laughs. “Now we have a really big antique store! Choosing this place made me nervous because there was so much space to fill, but our dealers are experts and very attentive to their booths. Renee and Meredith have chosen quality of vendors of very high credibility and they handle the day to day inventory. Also, we aggressively buy antiques along the seaboard. We don’t sell anything that you have to have, rather we sell things that complement, accent or enhance your lifestyle.”
Franklin’s is a dynamic marketplace that it is constantly evolving; every day the owners and the dealers are bringing in new items. “We are always asking ourselves, how can we better serve the customers? That’s why we’re always changing. We have customers that come every week just to see what’s new,” says Renee. “It hasn’t always been easy. We were under water during Florence and had deep losses, but we managed to reopen in seven weeks. We gave people in our community hope and a place to escape to during the pandemic, and we sold a great deal to help people get back on their feet. Overall, as a family we are very proud of what we have accomplished together. Perhaps that is why our customers are so devoted to us; it’s almost embarrassing how the customers go on and on about how wonderful this store is.”
“The demographics for customer base is so diverse, from eight to one-hundred years old,” says Meredith. “Everybody that walks in finds something; it’s definitely a fun family shopping experience! It’s so amazing that you have to come see it to believe it!”