Dealers Depot Antique Mall, an exciting new mall in Tempe opened its doors with a Grand Opening on May 30th. Owners Joel Pippett, Alison Sparks and Melynda Pippett have fulfilled a year long vision and lifetime dream. With hard work and creative ideas, they have established Tempe’s only Antique Mall. Since opening their doors, they have been growing rapidly and the dealer booths and cabinet spaces are full of fun, unique and sought after merchandise.
“The phrase that describes the mall is ‘A carefully curated Antique Mall with the best dealers in Arizona.’” They told us. “We believe we are unique because we do not have a first come first serve list of potential vendors. We curate who we want to deal here. We have a list of potential vendors, ask for pictures and the owners all decide together who will make a good fit.”
They sell antiques, vintage and collectibles from vintage clothing, jewelry, artwork, furniture, records, décor, signs, barware, lamps, coins and so much more. It’s fun to browse each booth and find fantastic treasures at every turn. On the weekends they invite coffee trucks to serve their customers from Fossils to Y2K Clothing. Joel, Alison and Meylnda truly listen to their customers and look for dealers and merchandise to enhance the shopping experience and allow shoppers to find that one-of-a-kind treasure.
As they continue to grow, they have plans to build out the mall into additional building space, as there is plenty of room to grow in this location. Future plans include developing parking lot sales, appraiser days and building an employee team.
Dealers Depot is located at 1401 S McClintock Drive in Tempe. The building was home to the Hotrod shop where Alison helped manage the shop and the office building. Joel did contract fabrication work for Phoenix Hotrods through his business Marvelous Metal Fabrication. Joel said from the very first time he walked into the building he saw what could be a fantastic Antique Mall.
When the Hotrod shop decided to close its doors, Joel proposed to Alison and Melynda that they should all start a mall in this building. Melynda has been a vendor at several malls in the valley and Joel and Melynda have been hunting for antiques together since early 1990. It took a year to build out the building and secure a retail zoning. Joel built all the metal cabinets in the front showroom with help from Alison and Melynda.
The block building has a history that goes back to 1970 and originally a linen factory was in this location. Dealers Depot has an aerial picture in the lobby that shows what the area looked like in 1953, a car wrecking yard.
The three owners have a wide background and many years of experience that complement each other and equip them as they work together to run Dealers Depot. Alison runs the back office, does the accounting and manages the day-to-day financials. Melynda is in charge of dealer needs and sign-ups and Joel is in charge of design and maintenance. Together they make a great team. “This is a lifelong dream that we want to share with our wonderful dealers and customers, and above all have a great time antiquing!” they shared.
Plan to stop by soon to visit Dealers Depot Antique Mall, 1401 S McClintock Drive in Tempe. For more information call 480-646-6770 or visit their website www.dealersdepotantiquemall. Follow on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok. Be sure to tell them you heard about them from The Antique Register.