The Case for Southern Antiques

There’s no telling how many road-trippers have exited I-95 near Wilson, North Carolina, and started in on a plate of chopped pork at Parker’s Barbecue without realizing their proximity to another Southern treasure: Boone’s Antiques. A mere half mile from the famous ’cue joint, fronting a lonely stretch of U.S. Route 301, the sixty-five-year-old business occupies a compound of nondescript showrooms and warehouses.

The buildings were just as humble during Boone’s heyday, but the hordes of buyers they drew are the stuff of legend. Yes, celebrities dropped by—Michelle Pfeiffer to buy an Oriental rug, Martha Stewart shopping