Cedar Street Market Antiques seeks bigger role for downtown Abilene, Kansas, shopping

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Antique furniture and accessories on display
Cedar Market Street Antiques is home to thousands of stories with each piece on display.

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Wearing a colorful Christmas-themed sweater, Connie Brunner seems comfortable among the vintage furniture and wares inside Cedar Street Market Antiques in downtown Abilene, Kansas. The store is an extension of her interior design business, Third and Vine. She uses pieces from the store to help arrange rooms, such as the work she did for the Engle House Bed and Breakfast.

Connie Brunner has been an interior designer for several years.
Connie Brunner has been an interior designer for several years.

Opened in 2015, Cedar Street Market Antiques occupies the former United Utilities building in the Downtown Historic District. More than 100 buildings – built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – comprise the historic district. CL Brown, who founded United (formerly known as Brown Telephone) operated almost 15 businesses out of the building, Brunner said.

The Brown Building from outside.
The one-time Brown Building has been part of the downtown scene for more than a century.

When the Manhattan, Kan., native decided to live in Abilene full time – she’s owned a Victorian house in town for more than 20 years – she thought an antique store would work. Sitting at a major intersection, Cedar Market Street Antiques is in a prime location for shoppers. Abilene’s downtown is an attractive mix of businesses, including Rivendell bookstore and the Jeffcoat Photo Museum. The district is also home to clothing and hardware stores, as well as restaurants. Murals depicting Kansas history are painted along buildings.

Hardy Boys books on display at the Rivendell book store.
Books at Rivendell.

Once people step into Cedar Street Market Antiques, they find the building appears nearly as it did when it opened more than a century ago. Known originally as the Brady Building when it opened in 1903, it became the Brown Building less than a decade later. With the original woodwork still in place, Brunner knows it’s a perfect spot for her antique business. An old bank vault serves as an additional display room with several books and photos on display.

The vault is open at the antique store.
A look inside the vault.

History

A visit to Cedar Street Market Antiques is a walk through history. Imagine the stories told as dinner was enjoyed on antique china once set out on a dining room table. Furniture where someone’s grandmother cuddled them. Books that date back to the early 1900s. Jewelry is on display now that there isn’t a younger generation in which to hand it down to. However, new stories and traditions begin when Brunner helps a customer make a purchase. That china, furniture or jewelry starts a new life and story with a new family.

China and books on display.
One of several displays at the vintage store.

As Brunner runs the store, she’s assisted by Violet, an 8-year-old wire hair fox terrier. During our visit, Violet had a note on her collar encouraging shoppers to ask about the deals.

Violet is a white wire hair fox terrier that helps the owner greet customers.
Violet, 8, assists Brunner with greeting customers.

Known as the hometown of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Brunner knows the main reason people visit Abilene is to tour the presidential museum complex. However, she would like to see more of those 200,000 visitors to check out the downtown businesses.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Brunner said. “We’re on I-70. We need to make it happen.”

For more information on Cedar Street Market Antiques, please visit its Facebook page.