ALLENTOWN, Pa. – A decades-old business, known for its expansive assortment of antique furniture, clocks, toys and more, is getting a fresh start with a new name, location and ownership team in Lehigh County.
Weil Antique Center, featuring more than 125 vendors selling quality antiques, collectibles and retro and vintage items, is transitioning to a new, larger location at 1471 Lehigh St. in Allentown.
Weil’s Doghouse Antiques is coming soon to 1471 Lehigh St. in Allentown.
Ryan Kneller
The center ceased operations at its home of more than 20 years at 2200 31st St. SW in Salisbury Township in June.
Original owners Rick and Cindy Weil sold the business to Mark Higgins and Michele Vrentas, who plan to reopen the business under the name “Weil’s Doghouse Antiques” later this fall at the rear of the Parkway Shopping Center on Lehigh Street.
“We are thrilled to announce that we are approaching our anticipated opening date, scheduled for mid-November,” a recent announcement on the center’s Facebook page reads.
“Our new store will showcase many of your beloved vendors, as well as introduce new ones that will enhance your antique shopping experience.”
The lower-level Parkway Shopping Center space, totaling 30,000 square feet, had been vacant for several years and once housed a bowling alley.
Weil’s Doghouse Antiques is coming soon to 1471 Lehigh St. in Allentown.
Ryan Kneller
Most recently, it was home to a business school.
“We’re extremely excited to grow!” Higgins told 69 News in late summer.
“Weil’s is a well-established and much-loved antique center that we are happy to take the reins of and continue to grow at a new, larger location. In Salisbury, the center utilized about 20,000 square feet for retail space, and we’ll be using around 30,000 square feet in Allentown. So, we’ll have about a third more space, with at least 160 different tenants.”
The Parkway Shopping Center space will feature new booths, lighting, ADA-compliant ramps, bathrooms, wall and ceiling paint and an HVAC system, Higgins said.
Outside, the centers’ new location will feature fresh landscaping and new exterior paint and signage.
A Mexican food trailer, Chano’s Tacos & Burritos, that previously operated at Weil’s former site in Salisbury is now operating in the parking lot at the new Allentown location, and a soul food business is planning to set up shop outside as well, Higgins said.
Ryan Kneller
At its new location, Weil’s Doghouse Antiques is tentatively set to operate 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays, Higgins said.
Additionally, a 50-table outdoor flea market will operate Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, Higgins said.
“This new location is going to be really full of life,” Higgins said.
“Just like when Dorothy lands in Oz and everything goes from black-and-white to color, this space will be really vibrant, welcoming and entirely different than what it looked like at the start. Michele is an absolutely incredible artist, and her artistic eye makes everything she does appealing to the eye. So, we’re going to make this space beautiful by painting the facade, installing some really nice landscaping and also having around 1,000 square feet of displays outside. Inside, all of the different walkways will flow nicely, allowing people to wander around from booth to booth almost like they’re visiting different rooms of a house. So, it’ll be an elevated shopping experience, for sure.”
Pictured is a sketch of the exterior of Weil’s Doghouse Antiques.
Ryan Kneller
Weil Antique Center opened in November 2002 in a converted warehouse, just off Lehigh Street, in Salisbury Township.
Rick and Cindy Weil got their start in the retail industry more than 40 years ago, starting out with a clock shop – Weil Clocks – in 1983.
The full-service clock shop operated at a couple of locations on Lehigh Street, including the Parkway Shopping Center, before the Weils expanded operations with the multi-vendor antique market in the early 2000s, Cindy said.
Vinart Dealerships, which operates several nearby auto dealerships on Lehigh Street, purchased the property on 31st Street Southwest in late 2023 and has other plans for the site.
“We plan to fold it into our automotive operations,” said Andrew Wright, managing partner of Vinart. “Once the property is vacated, more specific plans will be developed.”
Weil Antique Center is pictured at its original location at 2200 31st St. SW in Salisbury Township.
At its new location in Allentown, the antique center will feature vendors from the original Weil Antique Center as well as new vendors carrying “even more really cool, one-of-a-kind items,” Higgins said.
Shoppers will be able to browse aisles of unique finds, including furniture, storage chests, baskets, lamps, clothing, jewelry, blankets, books, dolls, toys, hand tools, pottery, cookware, glassware, tableware, kitchen accessories, vases, jugs, wall art, sports memorabilia, figurines and other decorative pieces.
Additionally, the Weils will continue selling a wide array of clocks at the center’s new location.
Higgins, who lives just outside Doylestown, has a longtime passion for collecting antiques and previously operated other antique stores – including DogHouse Antiques in the New Hope area – over the past few decades.
“Since I was a young boy, I’ve had an appreciation for unique items that tell a story,” Higgins said.
“I remember when my grandmother was getting older, she wanted to move in with one of my aunts, and so she dispersed a lot of her goods to an auction. My parents let me go to the auction, and I bought some of my grandmother’s stuff when I was 12 years old. So, I’ve been into collecting antiques since childhood, and my passion for it has only grown over the years. The items that I’m really drawn to are the ones that are interesting and unique, items that people say, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen that before!’
Weil’s Doghouse Antiques
Higgins and Vrentas met last winter at the Riegelsville Inn, where the two “immediately clicked,” Higgins said.
It was a Wednesday night, and the restaurant was hosting its “Hot Acoustic Jam,” a weekly event where singers and musicians of all ages, styles and abilities are welcome to perform.
“A friend of mine had encouraged me to come out over the winter, and not long after I entered the restaurant, she had asked me to dance,” Higgins said.
“There’s not much room to dance, but I guess I impressed her enough because I got her phone number. Ever since then, she has blown me away tenfold. She’s a really fantastic artist, a world traveler and a small business owner, operating Lift Easton yoga and massage studio. Her world experience and positive outlook on life are just mesmerizing.”
At Weil’s Doghouse Antiques, Higgins and Vrentas will sell some of their own pieces alongside the other vendors’ items.
Individuals will be able to shop antique furniture, primitives, artwork, home decor, taxidermy mounts and more.
Unique pieces will include mounted bears, stained glass lamps and a 12-foot biplane that will be hung from the ceiling, Higgins said.
Weil’s Doghouse Antiques Center is nearing completion at 1471 Lehigh St. in Allentown.
Weil’s Doghouse Antiques Center
“If a piece is even somewhat unique or exotic, I’m usually interested in it,” Higgins said.
“I have a fine arts degree, which helps me to make displays appealing to the eye. So, we’ll probably have a couch, a bookcase, some table lamps, a rug and other items that help people imagine how certain pieces would look in their own homes. With all of the other booths that will fill the space, people will almost certainly find something that speaks to them.”
For the latest Weil’s Doghouse Antiques updates, including progress and opening announcements, follow the business’ pages on Facebook and Instagram.