ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996                   TAG: 9605130147
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER 

TOO MANY THINGS THEY DIDN'T HAVE ROOM IN THEIR NEW HOME SO THEY DECIDED TO OPEN A BUSINESS

It all started when Ruby Shumate decided to outfit her home with antiques.

After all, the house that she and her husband, Jerry Shumate, moved into in the mid-1970s was something of a relic itself. Located off Interstate 81 on the Wythe County side of the Wythe-Pulaski line, the 3,500-square-foot home had been built in 1847.

In late 1994, the couple subdivided the property where they had been living for some 25 years and moved to Pulaski. But they could not fit all the antiques that Ruby Shumate had bought over the years into their new home.

"I used to go to a lot of auctions and antique shops," she said.

They solved the problem by opening Antiques & Things in a former grocery market and farm supply building that Jerry Shumate owns just off Interstate 81 at Exit 89-A. Their sign is visible almost immediately on a hill to the left as drivers turn toward Hillsville.

"My wife has wanted a shop for a number of years," Jerry Shumate said. "So we decided we'd try to fulfill her dream a little bit."

Of course, it was not that easy. They had to repaint everything in the sprawling building, clean and carpet the floors, and otherwise convert the building to their needs. "It was a pretty thorough renovation," Jerry Shumate said. "But it's about done now, hopefully."

Ruby Shumate went ahead and quietly opened the place in April while the last stages of stocking were still going on.

The two-story building, with 2,500 square feet in its main showroom and 1,500 square feet more on each floor, houses more than antiques. Jerry Shumate has a long history with the furniture business (he first came to Pulaski at age 12 when his father began operating Pulaski Furniture Corp.) and has a roomful of discount antique furniture for sale.

Other rooms boast gifts, collectibles, pictures, glass, china, lamps and even toys. The enterprise also offers such services as polishing for brass and silver, glass repair and refinishing. Space upstairs will be rented to other vendors.

Jerry Shumate attended Riverside Military Academy in Georgia, graduating from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, attending a year of graduate school at the University of Michigan and serving in the U.S. Navy. He and Ruby, a North Carolina native who was living in Richmond, were married in 1955, and he joined his family at Pulaski Furniture from then until 1974 when he stepped down as executive vice president.

He managed a furniture design store in North Carolina for about a year, but decided to move back to Virginia in 1977. That was when he built the building housing Antiques & Things, operating its market and supply business for about a decade. Since then, he has been farming and dabbling in real estate.

When he acquired the Wythe County property with its huge, sprawling old house, he said, "I figured I might store hay in it." But they decided to fix it up enough so they could spend a few days in it from time to time.

"One thing led to the next, and we just renovated the whole thing," he said. That was when Ruby Shumate began buying antiques. "We lived in an antique house for about 25 years," he said, and now many of the items from there are in the store. "Most of them are ours. We have a few things that belong to a couple of other people."

Jerry Shumate also had built a warehouse next door to the market and farm supply business. It is leased, but if Antiques & Things takes off, the warehouse offers space for expansion. - or for further antique-collecting by Ruby Shumate.

"The more you do it and the more you get involved, the more interesting it gets. At least it has for me," she said. "I'll find a place."

"Until now, we've seldom gotten rid of anything," Jerry Shumate added.

Antiques & Things

Location: Exit 89-A (Hillsville exit) off Interstate 81 at Draper

Owners: Ruby and Jerry Shumate

Merchandise: A mixture of antiques, specializing in walnut and mahogany pieces bought from estates and auctions; gift items

Prices: $1 up to $3,000

Hours: 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 1 p.m.- 5 p.m. Sunday

Telephone: (540) 980-7530

LENGTH: Medium:   81 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  PAUL DELLINGER/Staff. Ruby and Jerry Shumate are owners 
          of Antiques & Things in Pulaski. color.