A Phoenix fire captain’s retirement plan includes continuing to care for the community from the inside of his new antique store.
Greg Hawk, 54, will officially lift the rustic roller door of Hawksalvage to the public on Saturday, Nov. 9.
For someone that worked for the downtown fire department in the early 1990s, Hawk has noticed a “night and day difference” in the community.
In the hopes of engaging the up-and-coming area near downtown Phoenix, Hawk plans on doing things differently than a typical antique store. He is going to sell coffee and pastries, open up the back space for different creatives to work and also offer free Wi-Fi study areas. In addition, he said he plans to provide fruit, water and clean clothes to those in need who walk by his shop.
Hawk intends “to create a cool space where people feel comfortable to come, hang out and meet each other… and bring the whole kind of neighborhood together.”
He describes the furniture inhabiting the store as mostly 1950s and older, with the items themselves being “funky, eclectic and odd” and the shop a mixture of “antique, industrial, curiosity and oddity.”
On the surface, it appears to be an unusual time to open due to the decline in the antique market.
“I know that it’s going to be a challenge, but there are still people out there that like to touch, feel and smell,” Hawk said.
Terry Maust, 64, is a certified appraiser and acquisition specialist and said for an antique shop to do well in the current market, it needs to be selling a combination of popular furniture styles, as well as repurposing old furniture.
“People who are buying furniture are looking for mid-century modern furniture or good high-end Western furniture… steampunk or industrial. People like those two looks also,” said Maust.
Hawk is both repurposing old furniture and selling some mid-century and steampunk furniture with an industrial focus.
Even though the official opening is a day away, Hawk keeps the door open when he is in the store and anybody walking by can pop in and explore.
Downtown resident Dixie Smith, 56, and her husband, Tim, walked past Hawksalvage and said they were immediately enticed by the eclectic feel and the exposed brick building.
“It wasn’t like going into your typical antique store… the way he set it up was unique I think, compared to most antique stores I’ve been in. It was inviting, I wanted to go in,” Smith said.
As for the price of the items, Hawk said they vary. Some of the smaller items, slides and photos, start at $3 and range to $100, whereas some of the bigger items such as stools start at $20. Tables can go as high as $800 and an 1800s drafting table is priced at $2,300.
Hawk’s long term goal for the shop, located on 1109 Grand Ave., is to take up the asphalt in the back area, implement an urban farm and organize classes for some of the local and underprivileged schools.
Hawk has two years left with the fire department before he retires and can run Hawksalvage full time and set his community building plans into motion.
Contact the reporter at rphill24@asu.edu.
Updated Nov. 8 to include the address.
