Adam Sanderson started collecting baseball cards when he was a kid. He also loved G.I. Joe action figures as a child growing up in the ’80s.
Then as he got older, his interests expanded.
“I moved into records with my dad, old pop bottles and candy bar boxes – there was always something that I thought was interesting, like how a candy bar box could survive for 70 years because it was on a shelf and never got thrown away,” he says.
Eventually, Adam’s collections grew to be larger than what he had room for, so he began selling his items in antique stores around Sioux Falls, turning his hobby into his business, Adam’s Collectibles.
In Sioux Falls, Adam is known as the person to call when it comes to selling or finding baseball cards, records or comics.
“That’s kind of the world I live in and pretty much everybody knows that,” he says. “So if somebody’s trying to sell one of those things, they usually contact me.”
In 2015, the lease became available in an antique store Adam always thought would be an ideal location to own a business, just off 41st Street and S. Louise Avenue in the Empire Mall area. At the time, Adam was on a three-month deployment for the Army National Guard, so the opportunity passed. But last fall the lease became available again.
“I’m a doer,” Adam says. “I don’t like to just talk about things. So this time I said, ‘Let’s do this.’”
In October, Adam and his business partner Christine Wrage signed the lease. In mid-November, 605 Antiques opened its doors. Today, just over 100 vendors fill the roughly 19,000 square foot space.
“I think when it’s all said and done, we’ll probably have 200 some vendors,” Adam says. “But we’re a very non-traditional antique store. Most antique stores rent square footage like a 10×10 space, but we rent shelves and glass display cases – all sorts of different spaces.”
Around every corner of 605 Antiques there’s always something new to explore, from traditional antiques that are 100 years old to crafts, handmade items and newer collectibles, such as Adam’s Funko Pop collection that includes about a thousand of the small pop culture vinyl figures.
“I have guitars on the walls. I have a vintage 8-foot tall Squirt sign,” he describes. “So it’s a very unique store. And there are certain things that you get attached to because it reminds you of something or it was really hard to find, but the fun part about something like that is as soon as you sell it, then the hunt begins again.”
For many customers, shopping in antique stores is not only a fun hobby, but nostalgic too.
“It may be a doll or a dish or something that you saw every day growing up that brings you back to your childhood,” Adam says. “And that’s part of what people like when they come into antique stores – they want something that resonates with their childhood or a particular point in their life.”
Outside of 605 Antiques, Adam is an applications support analyst at Sanford Health. He works at Sanford during the day and then heads to the antique store in the evening. Then around 10:30 p.m., he works at a group home for Volunteers of America three or four nights a week.
Adam contributes his work ethic to his dad, who was a school counselor while also running several businesses on the side. His dad always found ways to be involved in his community too.
“We were always doing something, and nowadays it’s just what people call hustling,” he says.
Adam is also an active member of the military and has served on two deployments. This fall, he received his 20-year recognition letter.
If there’s one thing that carries over between his different roles, it’s his approach to working with others, whether it’s a coworker, customer or fellow soldier.
“Treating people the way you want to be treated goes a long way in business and in everything that you do,” he says.
