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• A look behind the hidden treasures of Carrie’s Antiques and Jewelry

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Carrie's Antiques & Jewelry »
Address: 204 N. Neil St. Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 352-3231
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Packed to the gills with things you’d never need in a million years, Carrie’s Antiques & Jewelry sits comfortably on the 200 block of N. Neil Street in Champaign. As The Beatles’ “Twist and Shout” plays on the radio, owner Carrie Homann sits on the phone trying to secure an extra table for an upcoming trade show. One look around the store and it’s clear that Homann will need as much space as possible.

Homann, a Mattoon, Ill., native, has owned and operated Carrie’s for the past 25 years and has always had a passion for antiques.

“I started collecting antiques when I was really young,” Homann said. “I did shows for years, and I would have booths or tables, and eventually that led to me having this store.”

That wide selection of odds and ends is what brings customers such as Heather Brand, a senior in LAS at the University, into the store.

“I remember the first time I went to Carrie’s, I was overwhelmed by all the stuff,” Brand said. “I felt like I could spend an entire day just looking at everything.”

The store features everything from clothing to posters to salt shakers, and items range in price from 50 cents to more than $150. Homann attributes her store’s variety to a diverse group of people looking to unload their old belongings.

“I get house calls all the time,” she said. “Half of the time, I don’t even know what I’m buying until it’s in my hands.”

Lately, Homann has turned her attention to acquiring collections of knickknacks. Carrie’s has become known for its selection of salt shakers, thanks to a recent buy.

“Last summer, I bought two collections of salt shakers,” Homann said. “One of the collections I bought came from a woman who had over 10,000 salt shakers.”

However, Brand said the older, more unique items are what continually draws her into the store.

“They have a lot of toys and junk that reminded me of my childhood, which was really cool to see,” she said. “I also found some old U of I Homecoming and Dad’s Weekend posters from like the ’20s, which was awesome.”

However, Homann said her heart still lies with the items that originally drew her to antiquing.

“I like the good old-fashioned vintage clothing from the 1920s,” she said. “But jewelry is my favorite because it’s timeless.”

It was the jewelry that eventually won the heart of Brand, who took home a necklace for $3.

“I think my favorite thing to look through was all the jewelry,” she said. “Even though some of it was decades old, you could see a lot of it was totally on trend now.”