Business feature: Shop owner fills antique niche

Sherry Fahrenkrug found a niche when she came to Portales and started working in retail, selling candles, antiques and other odds and ends.

Her business is Old Barn Finds.

Fahrenkrug started out in landscaping in Las Cruces 14 years ago. She moved to Portales after she met her business partner, Dave Nash, in Las Cruces.

What makes Old Barn Finds unique is the type merchandise and collectable antiques.

“We look for something unique before we put it up for sale,” Fahrenkrug said. “It’s our stuff that we have collected for years and years.”

Fahrenkrug said they picked the name because Nash used to tear down old barns and find the items.

“A lot of the stuff that I have collected has come out of old barns,” Fahrenkrug said. “People stuck it in the back of their barns and didn’t want it any more.”

Nash and Fahrenkrug usually go around looking for furniture and antiques that need to be redone.

Fahrenkrug went into retail when she started to run out of room for her collection and wanted to pass it on to someone else.

Old Barn Finds has quilted bedding, ladies’ quilted purses, table covers, home decor, scented candles and antiques. Many items are unique, such as an old spinning wheel that came out of a barn in Oklahoma and belonged to Fahrenkrug’s son-in-law’s grandmother.

“Everything is just different and unique and in good condition,” Fahrenkrug said.

Fahrenkrug said if someone is going into retail, that person needs to find something that Portales needs and go from there.

“They need to look for a retail product that no else offers in the area,” Fahrenkrug said. “A quality product and they need to stand behind it. Plus, do the best they can to display and market the item.”

“Old Barn Finds”

Located at Crafty Creations

121 South Main