Antique dealer Theresa Wendt, 87, keeps The Antique Shops of Ridgefield authentic

Antique trends have come and gone. Some businesses and people, too. Inside an old country church converted into an antique shop years ago in Ridgefield, Theresa Wendt is doing what she's done for more than 50 years.

Smiling and talking antiques.

“Ridgefield, to me, hasn’t changed at all,” said the nearly 87-year-old in between phone calls to the shop, fittingly called Country Church Antiques.

It is one of Ridgefield’s four antique shops. Wendt has owned three of them for the past five decades. She rents them out, but still works at a couple of them daily because it’s simply what she does, always has done.

As progress has surrounded Ridgefield – nestled along a railroad track about a mile off Route 14 between Crystal Lake and Woodstock – this unincorporated community, which isn’t quite a town, is more like the antiques it features than its neighboring cities.

It once was a thriving railroad community. Trains that used to stop to let cattle graze before heading on their way to Chicago no longer do, and the last passenger train stopped in the 1960s.

“People coming out here think they’re at the end of the earth,” said Wendt, who lives in Woodstock.

Whatever it is that has sort of kept Ridgefield on pause seems to work for Wendt and the other dealers who make up The Antique Shops of Ridgefield – now with its own website (www.theantiqueshopsofridgefield.com) and Facebook page thanks to a more computer-savvy dealer than Wendt.

Beginning with what became Ridgefield’s first Kris Kringle Days on Thanksgiving weekend about 20 years ago – now an annual event – the shops have hosted regular promotions and events drawing loyal customers, as well visitors from, as Wendt puts it, “all over, really.”

An upcoming Antique Garden Event is among their biggest. Hosted from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 5-7, the event will feature “anything and everything related to outdoors and the garden” at the shops – Country Church, Railroad Street Market, The Peacock Shoppe and Simone-Michele Antiques & Vintage – all within walking distance. Already filling the shops’ indoors, a wide range of items will be on display outside.

Ridgefield’s dealers offer primitive, architectural, shabby chic and French country antiques, as well as vintage and repurposed items. They also offer an atmosphere they’re pretty proud of.

“She’s created a little family there in little Ridgefield,” said Douglas VanHouten, who sells his Vintage VanBorg antiques out of Country Church Antiques and is the one behind Ridgefield’s promotions and social media.

“It’s amazing to see how long the shops have survived,” he said.

Wendt credits good dealers, good deals and reputation.

It’s a nice variety as well, said Deb Corcoran, who has owned The Peacock Shoppe for the past several years. She sells turn-of-the-century, mid-century, vintage and handcrafted items, along with homemade candles and soaps.

“All of our shops are a little different now, which is kind of nice,” Corcoran said. “The variety we offer in Ridgefield is appealing to people who want kind of like one-stop shopping.”

A Crystal Lake resident, Corcoran discovered Ridgefield upon noticing an antique sign pointing in its direction while driving on Route 14 one day. The woman who rented out the building before her noticed Corcoran’s handmade jewelry, asked her if she’d like to sell it there.

“That’s how it all started,” she said.

It’s a similar story for Wendt, who was told years ago she had a “good eye.” She originally sought antiques because “we had no money.”

“I started buying things because we couldn’t afford to buy new things,” she said. “I realized I really like the look, the warm feeling the furniture brought.”

Lately, she sees interest in shabby chic, industrial, mid-century modern and always primitive. Whereas years ago, it was more cluttered, she said, people these days want a more simple look.

“I’m delighted to see a lot of young people coming in, teenagers using antiques to decorate their rooms,” she said. It’s a trend that could be attributed to popular television shows, such as The History Channel’s “American Pickers.” Wendt has heard of some of these shows, but said she hasn’t watched them because she doesn’t have cable.

She’d rather be in the shop, anyway.

“I love it, the people, the customers, the buying and selling. ... To be here 51 years, I love it,” she said. “It’s part of my life.”