Local resident Cammie Wilson will soon bring a dash of her family roots and a pinch of creativity to Eureka’s Main Street through the opening of her new business, the CammieJane Studio. Wilson’s love of antiques and items crafted with care, will soon be shared with the community in her new creative space. Growing up surrounded by history, in a home built in 1880, Wilson’s app reciation for antiques was fostered by her father.
“My dad was an antique dealer and we spent the nights and weekends going to garage sales, antique sales and auctions, doing renovation projects on the house and flea market flipping before it was a thing,” shared Wilson. She also gained experience by assisting her father with additional facets of his business, including conducting estate sales and selling items on eBay, something they began in 1997 shortly after the website first launched.
“When I wasn’t tagging along with my dad, I was with my mom and grandma who were both very crafty people. Painting, sewing, quilting, embroidering, crocheting, baking from scratch without recipes,” Wilson commented. She also recollected time spent with her grandfather on his farm, getting her hands dirty in the garden and checking cows. “I was constantly surrounded by things made with love and old things that were previously loved by others,” stated Wilson.
In addition to her father’s inventory of antiques she inherited after his passing, Wilson’s collection has grown over time with the addition of many generations of family antiques and items purchased over the last couple of decades. Wilson noted, “It made perfect sense to open an antique store!”
CammieJane Studio will usher in a new chapter in the life of one of Eureka’s historical structures that line downtown Main Street. The Wiggins building, built in 1926, originally opened as a furniture store and in later years, was home to a Ben Franklin Five and Dime, a Montgomery Wards and, most recently, was the Huntington Auction and Real Estate business.
Wilson explained that the main floor of the building is approximately 5,000 square feet and formerly housed the auction space and real estate office. The lower floor of the building features high ceilings with the original tin tiles and wood floors still intact. The second floor is the same size and originally had smaller businesses and shops in the front part with a long hallway down one side and a large room in the back that was once a dance studio. The second floor also has high ceilings and the same beautiful tin tiles and wood floors. Wilson noted that the Huntingtons had turned the front five of the smaller shops upstairs into their living quarters, but kept all of the building’s character in the process.
“When I bought the building about a year ago, many of the treasures were still inside,” said Wilson. She continued, “The main floor looked like they just locked the doors after their last auction and walked away! Not only did I get the building of my dreams, but it was also already jam packed with flea market finds, antiques and unknown treasures stored away in boxes!” Wilson recalled thinking she could easily spend months sorting through it all. She noted that a year later, she was still sorting through all of the treasures that came with the building.
“I was never one to follow directions,” shared Wilson. She continued, “All of my grandmother’s handwritten recipes call for a handful of this or a dash of that and, ‘bake till done.’” Wilson noted that she got a D as a grade in Home Economics in high school because, “although I made a dress and it fit me beautifully, I just looked at the photo on the front of the pattern envelope packet to create it. I didn’t even open up the pattern or cut out its pieces. I didn’t realize until the end of the assignment that most of the grade was how well I followed the pattern and directions,” recalled Wilson. “I’ve always beat to my own drum and just created things without patterns by getting inspiration from things and people around me,” shared Wilson.
“Fast forward to about 23 years ago when I married the love of my life, Matt, and joined his vision to save his small hometown in rural Kansas. He was gone a lot in those early years of our marriage. While he was away growing the business, I remember calling him one day to tell him I had just bought a large 1925 art & crafts style house for us to live in. That restoration project is still a labor of love in process to this day, being carried on by our son and his family,” Wilson noted.
She shared that their house project was put on the “back burner” while they began restoring the 1917 Santa Fe Train Depot to house the headquarters of her husband’s design and manufacturing business. “We’ve since been able to get both our home and the train depot listed on the state and national historic registers,” she noted.
“Our three kids are grown now and Matt has been not so subtly hinting that I need to think about retiring from helping him in the business. Imagine my surprise when he, out of the blue, announced one night a little over a year ago – “Hey, Cammie, you just bought an old building on Main Street! We are going to meet with the owner in a couple of days to finalize everything.” I was stunned and speechless to say the least,” shared Wilson.
As Wilson opens doors for business, there will be no set store hours. “If I’m downstairs working on something, my front door will be unlocked, so feel free to drop by,” she noted.
Plans for future pop-up openings are in the works. Those dates and times will be announced in The Eureka Herald and on social media.
In addition to selling antiques, Wilson is also looking to set up a portion of the first floor to serve as an art studio that she hopes will not only serve as a creative space for her DIY projects, flea market flips and filming videos for her social media, but also include a relaxing area to hang out with friends. Art classes may also be hosted by Wilson in the future. As they work to restore the building, long-term goals may also involve renovations upstairs to create apartments and an AirBnB.
Wilson’s antique store will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday, June 1 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at 114 N. Main Street in Eureka.
