Tickled Pink Memorabilia Mall: Louisville’s Secondhand Culture

There is a house on Taylor Boulevard, around the corner from Churchill Downs and not far from Déjà Vu Showgirls – a fun house with an awning painted a startling pink. Inside this house live pieces of your childhood, contained in Tupperware and rotary phones, in owl lamps and mason jars, all at impossibly low prices. Tickled Pink is not an antique store; it’s a memorabilia mall. The difference is evident the moment you see a 99 cents tag. Go to Joe Ley Antiques to marvel at the past. Come to Tickled Pink to buy it back, a dollar at a time.

Kentucky supports a vibrant secondhand culture. For the initiated, there are plenty of auctions and estate sales. Adventuresome pickers cruise yard sales across the region. In recent years, peddler’s malls have sprung up where big box stores stand empty. What sets this little pink house apart from its counterparts at peddler’s malls and antique stores is the man behind the counter, Tony Lechner. Having never met a stranger, he cultivates community with great enthusiasm and seemingly without effort, all with a healthy dose of hyperbole.

Tickled Pink Memorabilia Mall was born in 1988 in a little pink building along Bardstown Road. Not wanting to do battle with the Highlands powers that be, Lechner and longtime partner Conrad allowed the garish color to set the course for the store’s brand. Encouraged by Conrad to leave his job as a restaurant manager, Lechner threw his lot into stocking inventory and the couple looked for the perfect location. They settled on the Taylor Boulevard building in part to be close to historic Churchill Downs, though Lechner is the first to say the track doesn’t bring him more customers. In fact, Derby season is the slowest time for the store, since drinking and people watching doesn’t exactly go hand-in-hand with carrying around hand-painted planters.

When Conrad passed away after a few years of ill health, Lechner almost gave up the store. He worked one last estate sale before making the closing official. It was then he realized that the sale’s hustle and bustle was the only thing that made him forget to be sad in those tough months following Conrad’s death. He made a new commitment to the store and his success has grown in the years since. Lechner spends nearly every night doing house calls, buying housewares from people who are downsizing or, more often, from the families of the recently deceased. Lechner’s jubilant personality and warmness is a good counter for such solemn affairs and his honest offers have earned him a good reputation and a lot of repeat business. Having experienced loss himself, he knows there is a difference between picking the bones of those who have passed on and redistributing loved objects. And he makes the difference known.

“If it’s not Walmart, I want it,” said Lechner.

This sentiment expertly sums up Lechner’s philosophy about what the store offers. He understands the love of low prices, not hesitating to tag a hand-embroidered cloth napkin at 29 cents, even if that doesn’t turn a cent of profit. The odd store hours add to the pink house’s charm. The store is closed on Fridays and Saturdays so that Lechner and company can attend yard sales and auctions. Saturday evenings are spent preparing the store for the busiest day of the week: Sunday. The store opens at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays and is the only game in town until noon. The garage is opened with brand new stock and customers can find $8 trunks and $5 black velvet paintings of Adam and Eve.

Running the store is not an endeavor that is going to make anyone rich. Its success depends on all the pieces of the puzzle fitting together well, from friendly service and low prices to a clean store and talented vendors. The store houses 15 vendors at a time, all of them hand-picked by Lechner to display their great eyes for discarded treasures at low prices. It is a fun yet serious commitment for the vendors. They must add new stock every week on their assigned day so that the store always has new picks for customers, whether the customers stop by on Sunday or Wednesday. Lechner collects rent and a small commission, while dispensing advice about displaying and pricing, turning each green vendor into a seasoned professional.

The community of resellers Lechner teaches and supports is a major contribution to Louisville’s secondhand culture. When asked about his customers, Lechner is the first to say that a majority of his sales are going to sellers who are then reselling to their regular customers at far-flung flea market booths and stores. This shuffling of stuff is an economy unto itself – one that might make minimalists cringe, but that excites this collector.

After 27 years in the business, Lechner has seen the trends change over the years. The depression-era glass and McDonald’s toys that were so popular in years past now sit under a layer of dust (that is swept aside every Saturday night). The owls and rotary phones of the ‘80s are today’s hot ticket. Lechner has the patience and enthusiasm to get a kick out of the unpredictability of it all.

As long as Louisville continues to be lucky enough to have this fun house in her backyard, this writer will see you there on Sundays.

Tickled Pink Memorabilia Mall is located at 3269 Taylor Boulevard. Hours are Sunday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.. Like the store on Facebook and be the first to see when the long-lost ALF lunchbox from your childhood resurfaces.

-Tracy Heightchew

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