Vintage market settling in at its new Belleville home with iconic storefront sign
As someone who appreciates old buildings and historical objects with great stories to tell, I don’t know how I let this business escape my notice for so long.
And if I missed it, maybe some of you did too. If that’s the case, I’m here to tell you about the coolest shop I’ve been to in a long time.
And to those who already know about it, why didn’t someone tell me sooner?
I first heard about Blanquart’s Rusty Gem Vintage Market, located at 26 E. Main St. in Belleville, when owner Christine Blanquart gave me a call.
She told me about her business, which is in the former Keil’s Antiques and Gifts building (a really beautiful building). I could hear the enthusiasm in Blanquart’s voice as she spoke and provided me with a few brief details.
The name “Rusty Gem” is her husband Brad Blanquart’s way of acknowledging the other family business: Blanquart Jewelers.
His father, Chuck Blanquart, owns and operates the business at 111 E. Main St. in Belleville.
Anyway, I wanted to see the shop, so we arranged to meet there. That’s when Christine Blanquart told me her story.
Where it all started
Blanquart’s Rusty Gem Vintage Market first opened at 501 Lebanon Ave., Belleville, in June 2020.
Christine Blanquart said she “bought and opened a business during COVID. Who does that?!”
According to an October 2020 article in the Illinois Business Journal, the Blanquarts purchased the 1960s auto repair shop that February, anticipating an April opening, when COVID hit.
Blanquart said she was working as a nurse at the time. Husband Brad Blanquart was working at Siteman Cancer Center, where he still works full-time today.
The Rusty Gem was only open the third weekend of the month, coinciding with the monthly flea market at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds, before the pandemic hit.
With such limited operating hours and people staying home because of COVID, it was harder to make many sales.
Christine Blanquart said some merchandise was around for so long that she got attached and joked that as a result, nothing was for sale.
“It’s hard to let go of some things,” said Blanquart.
Finding room to grow
With the increasing number of items at the shop, Blanquart’s Rusty Gem Vintage Market outgrew its 2,000-square-foot Lebanon Avenue home.
It was time to find a larger space.
“I wanted a place where I could have classes,” said Blanquart, and part of her goal was to expand to a location that can accommodate that.
The Blanquarts like to travel and visit other Main Streets and downtowns, and they wanted to bring that vibe here.
The Rusty Gem is “a place you’d expect to see in a downtown,” said Brad Blanquart.
Christine Blanquart said she wanted to be in downtown Belleville for some time and was even given a bit of encouragement from another Main Street business owner.
Bennie Parr, owner of Bennie’s Pizza Pub, said he and his wife “love the vintage stuff.”
They would go to The Rusty Gem at Lebanon Avenue every month to check out the treasures. They also spoke to the Blanquarts, said Parr, and they all really hit it off.
Parr said he and Christine Blanquart talked about many things, including her father-in-law and the location of Blanquart Jewelers, which is next door to Bennie’s Pizza.
Parr said he remembered thinking “how cool [it’d be] to have her down there [on Main Street].”
Blanquart looked at available spaces along Main Street, and there were plenty of options. She said you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting an empty building, but none of them felt right.
Parr recalled seeing the Blanquarts downtown to look at different buildings and would suggest some as they became available, including his favorite, the old Keil building, which he feels is “perfectly suited to them.”
Then, finally, came a lucky break.
The building that housed Keil’s Antiques and Gifts hit the real estate market in late 2019, bringing with it a long history.
Adam Keil opened Keil’s Stove and Tinware in 1858, according to a brief historical document provided to the Blanquarts by the Belleville Historical Society.
Ask Blanquart about it. She might even show you the document.
Keil built the current building in 1867. The business was taken over by his son, Charles Keil, in the 1870s.
Charles Keil and his own son, Walter Keil, partnered in 1903 to form Charles Keil & Son, expanding the business by selling hardware.
The family business continued to evolve and pass through more generations of family until 2003.
IN 2004, Jason Buss bought the building as well as the rights to the Keil name and opened Keil’s Antiques and Gifts, which closed in 2019.
The building was nearly sold to another last summer.
Something changed, because in September, Blanquart said she received a phone call from a friend that the “For Sale” was back up in the building’s window.
It was already 8 p.m. the evening she got that news. Blanquart picked up the phone anyway and called her real estate agent to arrange a viewing. The Blanquarts were able to see the building the next day.
Feeling there would be other interest in the property, Blanquart had to make a decision quickly.
So she did.
The Blanquarts closed on the building at 26 E. Main St. on Friday, Sept. 17.
Blanquart said she has no regrets and wishes she’d done it sooner.
(BTW – The Blanquarts still own the building on Lebanon Avenue. It’s currently used as a warehouse and workshop.)
In the new digs
Once the building was theirs, Brad Blanquart figured they’d have a few months to prep the space, move in and get settled before reopening.
He figured wrong.
Christine told him, “You have three weeks.”
She said she saw the crowds at recent downtown Belleville events — Oktoberfest and the Chili Cook-Off. She didn’t want to miss the next high-traffic opportunity.
So they worked long hours every day to get the shop and opened the weekend of Oct. 22-24.
During Art on the Square.
You know, with a nice, quiet soft opening.
Christine Blanquart said they had a great turnout.
Since opening on Main Street, Blanquart has “never heard a bad comment about the building,” adding that people are glad the building is being used after sitting closed for nearly two years.
At first, there was some confusion about the business. Many people thought that Keil’s Antiques and Gifts had reopened.
That assumption stemmed from the fact that the Blanquarts kept the old Keil’s marquee sign above the entrance. After all, it too is a part of the building and its history.
When asked about the biggest difference between the old and new location, Christine Blanquart said, “The difference is the space. I needed to spread out.”
She rearranged the placement of the original display cases and other furnishings that came with the building, providing more room to move from one display to the next.
Upon entering the building, one walks into a treasure hunter’s dream.
Some of the items for sale are left as they were found. Some have been completely restored to their original glory. Others are refinished or repurposed.
There are even items from outside vendors including jewelry, candles and soaps.
Several things that stood out to me: old typewriters (blame the day job), old cameras (which I happen to collect), a beautifully restored Shell gas pump, a framed advertisement for chocolates featuring Bob Hope and the front end of a 1960 Ford truck.
Blanquart said of the items in the shop, “Don’t look at things for what they are. Look at them for what they could be.”
Too right. There’s a canoe that’s been turned into a light fixture.
Blanquart says she learns a lot from her customers about the merchandise. People find items that remind them of their childhoods and tell their stories.
“The whole store is nostalgia,” said Blanquart.
Now, even if the shop’s type of merch isn’t your thing, being able to see this building is totally worth a trip.
The 1867 building, with its cast iron building front, is in great shape.
The Blanquarts cleaned the first-level floor but otherwise left alone. No sanding, no staining, no refinishing.
Christine Blanquart said the floor tells a story.
And it does.
Faded areas of the floor really stand out, revealing where counters and shelves spent so many years before being moved.
The old rolling ladders on each wall — Blanquart refused to sell them — are still part of that old (and awesome) building feel. In addition to looking cool, they’re highly functional, allowing Blanquart to add merchandise to the higher shelves.
Original fixtures from the early 1900s, including cabinets with drawers and nooks, display cases, shelves and even the signage, are still present.
Blanquart removed a few drawers, hanging them on the wall as extra display shelving. One can fully appreciate their composition of wood and metal (impossible to tell when used as a drawer — you can only see the wood front).
Some of the standalone shelves and cabinets were moved to the spacious second floor, displaying a bit more of the building’s history.
As for the rest of the glorious building details, I won’t write about them here. Go out and see for yourselves.
Seriously, it’s worth it.
Not just a business
The Blanquarts found more than a home for something that’s more than a business.
They found a community.
The Rusty Gem has different teams of people to help keep the business rolling.
Pickers find different items to help stock the shop.
The salvage team brings in materials from places like old farmhouses (think reclaimed barn wood or other materials that can be reused) and estate sales.
Then there’s the clean-up team, which cleans or restores items for sale.
“It’s like a treasure hunt for us,” said Christine Blanquart.
The Rusty Gem also hosts hands-on art classes, which are held in the building’s second floor. (Watch the Facebook page for upcoming events.)
Different vendors in the area are teaching others how to hand knit, paint decorative signs and create chalk couture, among other crafty skills.
“It’s more fun when you make it a vintage family,” said Blanquart.
Then there are the downtown neighbors.
As an advocate of supporting downtown businesses, Parr feels that The Rusty Gem is “a great draw” and a great fit downtown.
Steve Hemmer from Joe & Onie’s said they “furnished [The Rusty Gem] with hot coffee” for the customers their first weekend.
“We don’t see the downtown businesses as competitors,” said Hemmer. They see each other more as compadres and are a tight-knit group of business owners.
He even invited Blanquart to go through the basement at Joe & Onie’s, full of 200 years worth of stuff, and take anything she wanted.
“We are all about [downtown, more] than we are about ourselves,” Hemmer added.
Parr said the foot traffic downtown is incredible. They want people in each other’s stores.
A month after opening, Christmas shoppers started to head downtown to visit the other shops and the Christkindlmarkt.
Blanquart said that they went all in and opened six days a week during the holiday season.
The trolley rides that took place during the Christkindlmarkt made its stops right in front of the shop. Shoppers were literally delivered to their doorstep.
Blanquart said things couldn’t have gone better.
During those long and busy work weeks, neighboring businesses looked out for them.
And Blanquart was glad for it.
Blanquart said that Joe & Onie’s, Sugar High and Bennie’s Pizza helped keep the family fed.
Hemmer said he was excited about the Blanquarts being downtown. They also “patronize us a lot while they’re working,” said Hemmer.
“It seems like they really feel at home here,” said Parr.
Blanquart’s new neighbors have even become customers, purchasing items for their own businesses.
Parr said that Blanquart is “super talented with putting things together” with her displays and admits to being addicted to collecting old doors and converting them into tables.
“We build each other up,” said Blanquart. “It’s a community.”
About The Rusty Gem
Blanquart’s Rusty Gem Vintage Market is located at 26 E. Main St. in Belleville. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
For more information about The Rusty Gem and classes offered, call 618-520-6508 or visit facebook.com/BlanquartsVintageMarket.
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
