Sweet Pea Vintage in Camp Verde – a consignment shop where you will find all things old, kitschy, vintage, antique and more – is under new ownership. Now named Sweet Pea Trading, it will remain the same great store that its customers and consignors have enjoyed for the past fifteen years.
The new owners are Jack and Patricia Seltzer, who, along with their daughter Jenny, have been consignors at the shop since 2015. They had an opportunity to purchase the business this past summer and took ownership on July 1 from previous owner Wynne Melton.
Sweet Pea Trading currently has 34 vendors offering thousands of treasures, big or small, including an eclectic mix of antiques, home décor, repurposed, up cycled, reused, refurbished, furniture, Native American, Old West, tools, artwork, unique gifts, fudge and honey and much, much more, with new displays every week.
The store is an Elite Dealer for Dixie Belle Paint and Jenny Seltzer has received special training making her an awesome resource for Dixie Belle products. Eight amazing vendors make up a staff working as cashiers, making customers feel welcome, and enjoy researching individual items.
Located on Highway 260 on the road between Cottonwood and Strawberry/Pine, Sweet Pea is in an old building of about 10,000 square feet, The store itself has about 8500 square feet plus there is a warehouse. A large porch features outdoor items and an even larger market room has furniture.
The Seltzers said, “We had to close for a couple of months in 2020 but have had tremendous local support since we reopened. We have reorganized the front area and the market room and added a nice customer restroom. Jenny has been instrumental in increasing our presence on Facebook, Google and Instagram. Stop in and see us.”
Jack and Pat came to Camp Verde in 2013 after retiring from teaching on the Navajo Reservation in Southeast Utah. They raised daughters Jenny and Andrea in beautiful Monument Valley. There, they had the unique opportunity to become friends with many of the local women and men who are talented weavers, silversmiths and artists. They taught their children and grandchildren.
In 1994 Jack and Pat were instrumental in the development of a summer program entitled ‘Nda hoo’aah that basically means “Relearning/New Learning.” In this program, Navajo elders were hired to teach the students how to weave baskets, rugs and saddle cinches in a way that increased the students’ math and computer skills. The designs and patterns were created on the computers by using programming skills and then the Navajo elders taught the students how to replicate those designs in their weavings. This program received national attention and lasted until the Seltzers retired in 2013.
When the couple moved to Camp Verde, they were able to obtain a booth at Sweet Pea to sell some of the many items they had brought with them from the reservation, including many of the saddle cinches. It did not take long for Jack and Pat to fall in love with Sweet Pea and to realize the joy of finding great treasures to resell. Jack had acquired a large selection of fishing and hunting gear and an antique tool collection that had been in his family. Other family members needed to downsize and had items to sell. And then, the bug of going to estate sales, yard sales and auctions bit Jack, Pat and Jenny and they were hooked!
Sweet Pea Trading is located at 437 Highway 260, Camp Verde. The Mall is open seven days a week. Learn more at http://sweetpeatrading.com/ or on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. Email: sweetpeatradingllc@gmail.com or call 928-567-6555.