Tea, antiques, and pipes

continued

Hourani, thirty-nine, spent eighteen years cooking in local restaurants, but he'd always dabbled in antiques on the side. Five years ago he decided to quit cooking and try to make a living as a full-time dealer. Since then he's been renting space in other dealers' stores, but he always wanted a place of his own. So when What a Find co-owner Jon Pear decided to quit the antiques business last winter, Hourani took over the space (Pear had a partner, Melanie Diana, and they had two stores-the other, Such a Find Estate Liquidations, is still open at 4090 Packard).

The Lamp Post store has just 600 square feet of floor space, but Hourani's managed to pack in a lot of merchandise without it feeling overcrowded. He rents out space to other dealers, but half the stock is his. “We specialize in oddities and the unusual,” he says. That includes everything from comics and costume jewelry to working desk phones from the '40s and Star Wars collectibles from the '70s. “The idea was to make it fun,” says Hourani. “We've got an Archie Bunker doll next to my Waterford crystal. You come in, it's wacky.”

Lucky Haskins Antiques & Oddities, 2366 E. Stadium Blvd. (Lamp Post Plaza). 975-6900. Daily 11 a.m.-7 p.m.