Local Character: Store Owner Abraham Shalehchi Lives His Dream Peddling Peculiarities
Posted February 13, 2008 12:00 pm.
Last Updated September 28, 2022 4:37 pm.
You may never actually need a stuffed wolf, a life-sized statue of Jesus, an ABBA eight-track, or medieval body armour, but it’s strangely comforting to know that if you did, there’s a store in Toronto that has all the aforementioned items, and hundreds of other fascinatingly obscure remnants of the past.
Abraham’s Antiques has been a fixture at the grungy intersection of Queen and Bathurst for the past dozen years, and in that time owner Abraham Shalehchi (pictured) has compiled an impressive collection of peculiar pieces that often leave visitors to his creatively cluttered shop both enthralled and perplexed.
Whether it’s eerie storeroom mannequins, vintage tennis rackets and snowshoes, or old, haunting black and white family portraits, Shalehchi boasts that his store isn’t your typically dusty, boring antique showroom.
“I buy stuff that’s interesting,” he tells CityNews.ca. “I don’t want to have an antique shop here, like with dining room sets and rocking chairs. I like unique stuff. Everything is weird here, nothing is normal.”
Abraham often rents out items from the store for modelling shoots and music videos, and he’s had his share of brushes with fame.
“I see celebrities, they all come in here, supermodels and politicians. They look around and it reminds them of their past. They say, ‘Oh my mom had this’, and it’s like a time zone.”
Icelandic singer and actress Bjork recently stopped by, but Shalehchi was far from star struck. “I don’t jump up and down and I don’t get excited, so they like that,” he explains.
Despite the occasional movie star or singer that peruses his eclectic aisles, Shalehchi admits most of his local customers are more interesting than anything Hollywood could offer.
“I wish I would have made a book out of all the characters I met,” he says, his eyes lighting up. “You don’t get ordinary characters very much, (my customers are) a little different.”
After moving to Toronto from Iran 20 years ago, Shalehchi, like many immigrants, dreamed of starting his own business. With a lot of hard work and dedication, the married father of two accomplished that goal. And while he admits the neighbourhood has changed over the years, one thing remains constant — the amicable store-owner is still living his dream.
“It goes by quick, but I’ve enjoyed every day of it. If I go away for a couple of days, I miss it, I want to come back here. It becomes part of you.
“It’s not just a business,” he adds. “I don’t get up just to make money. I can’t wait to come here.”
