Here and especially elsewhere on the Internet, you may read some weird reviews about Artichoke…read moreAnnie's. As we have made five trips out in the last week and a half, purchased an antique bedroom set there using the store's staff as intermediaries, and been in and out of the store four times in one day loading up and carrying out our purchase, let me address a few issues:
*STAFF: exceedingly helpful, witty, informative, and generous enough to help us get a 20%+ discount. Oh yeah, I forgot: NICE!
*NO TRASH RECEPTACLES POLICY: Artichoke Annie's is exceptionally clean and well-organized, and I suspect they like to keep it that way. Considering they are located right off one of the most-traveled interstates in America, they would ordinarily be a perfect target for road-tripping antiquers and casual visitors to unload their vehicle trash. EXCEPT that they don't have receptacles, forcing such individuals to dispose of their trash at more appropriate stops (or maybe think twice about accumulating so much!).
*NO PURSES POLICY: Artichoke Annie's is a vast store, with many items that could easily be ushered into a purse. Would that we were all unimpeachably honest, but, alas, we are not. Yes, they have cameras, too, but I've never known that to keep folks from stuffing items quickly into their bags. Suggesting you leave your purses in their FREE LOCKERS is just a way to reduce temptation and the likelihood of an awkward, possibly unpleasant incident.
*OVERPRICED: I can only speak for the records I perused there (very reasonably priced) and the six-piece Heywood-Wakefield "mid-modern" bedroom set we bought (a steal, we thought), but their prices seem reasonable to me, and I trust the prices a little more since it does not seem like they take junk to begin with.
*CUSTOMERS' VEHICLES PHOTOSHOPPED INTO BUSINESS' PICTURE: This may have been a joke, but so were several visitors' SERIOUS comments. Today we made four trips out there in four hours: very busy from beginning to end, including two shoppers who were out there the whole time.
Trust the good-to-great reviews here, friends. It's very, very possible the disgruntled reviewers might have had their knickers twisted too tightly to begin with.