The Wells County Chamber of Commerce staff and Ambassadors surprised Rod Fetters with Rod’s Rustics as the October Member of the Month. Rod’s Rustics, which opened in 2018, is located at 104 S. Jefferson St. in Ossian.
Rod, and his wife Paris, explained that owning an antique business was never a dream; however, they are both avid participants in antique auctions and have a passion for the history behind the items. After holding a couple large garage sales at their home, they found people were following and driving over 200 miles to come and buy items from them. They knew at that point it was time to find a location and start a business.
“We were new to Ossian and a church member connected us with the building owner, Rex Harris,” said Fetters. “We would not be here if it wasn’t for him. Rex was good to us and has been very supportive. This building has a lot of history and character, which used to be a Chevy garage with a showroom in two parts of the building.”
In four short years, expansion started to take place. “Larry Smith with Edward Jones was a tenant on one side of the building and after he moved to a different location, we opened up that section and grew,” explained Fetters. “During COVID, we started to remodel the upstairs for more inventory. In January, I joined Steffen Group as an auctioneer and remodeled half of the garage in the back to allow for online auctions or auctions where people can’t hold at their own location or home.”
Fetters explained that the marriage with Steffen Group has been great for him and Paris. “Both Paris and I can oversee the auctions and spend time describing the items, which is important for online auction searches. We want to find the collectors and using keywords and listing the names is important to be found. We will always have an open house with the auctions for people to come in to touch, see, and feel the items. Having a location people can stop by just gives the customer another opportunity to be serviced.”
In the near future, the other half of the back garage will be remodeled to allow for two auctions to take place at the same time. “The online auctions are another way to bring people in from other parts of the United States and increase bidding for the items,” said Fetters. “The best warm and fuzzy you can get is when a customer says we sold their item for more than what they bought it for.”
Rod’s Rustics specializes in antiques and collectables, Indian artifacts, and special signage. “We like to make things look as good and clean as possible,” stated Fetters. “Displaying the product as you would see it in your home allows people to visualize and more likely to buy. Every item and (piece of) furniture are cleaned before it goes on the floor. We do our best to keep prices as fair as possible and turn product over quickly so there is something different every time a customer visits.”
“We love this community and Wells County,” said Fetters. “This is home, and the people have been good to us as well. We hope that we can give back a little to others and bring people to our community. We are very thankful to be here. Working with Steffen Group is allowing us to make memories, help families, and earn a little money at the same time.”
