It’s Day 152 of “365 Things to do in Cincinnati” and today we’re featuring the Wooden Nickel, an antique store located right downtown.
The Wooden Nickel got its start in 1976, starting out in architectural antiques. Over the years they’ve expanded into all kinds of antiques including furniture, fine art, and lighting. The antique store downtown is really a number of spaces which sit side by side. Each “room” has its own set of treasures.
The first section we went in was full of old wooden doors and fireplace mantels. I was impressed with the price on the pieces. The gorgeous mantel above was under $200 – try finding a price like that for a similar mantel in a home improvement store! Some of the items needed work but many were pretty darned nice.
They also had a number of glass pieces – stained glass, signs, windows, etc. And they even had some gorgeous glass chandeliers in one room.
You never know what you’re going to come across at the Wooden Nickel. As a dealer they shop at various antique shows, auctions and they even take trips overseas in search of items to add to their “collection”.
I got to talking with the man in the shop and he told me they bought an entire truck load of old wheeled carts a while back at a local antiques festival and sold them all right away. Evidently it’s the latest thing in designer coffee tables. Who knew?!
They have all kinds of things – nice wooden furniture pieces, odd metal pieces (as seen above) that could be used to make some cool wall art, wrought iron fencing and lots of architectural remnants.
If you happen to be in the market for a cool bar set up, be sure to take a look through the Wooden Nickel. They take old furniture pieces and create new bars out of them. They make some amazing bar units. They are all refinished and ready for installation. Gorgeous stuff!
Venture on out to the Wooden Nickel, located at 1400-1414 Central Parkway downtown. When you do go be sure to wear some clothes that you don’t mind getting a bit dirty. This is not your “typical” antique store. You’ll want to dig and uncover some gems and you will probably bring home a bit of grime. 
I love this place. Its a great find.