Love at First Pick

Antiques dealer marries old-school and newfangled aesthetics

Robert Nicholas needed a lawnmower. It was 9am on a Saturday 29 years ago, and he was wading through frayed VHS tapes and spaghetti-stained microwaves at a yard sale in Jacksonville, Florida, when he got distracted by a piece of antique furniture. He asked the price, to which the flea-market purveyor tossed back a gruff response. “‘That’s already been sold,’” Nicholas remembers him saying. “‘You’re late.’”

Determined to beat the crowds, Nicholas, then a youth pastor, got up earlier the next weekend and even earlier the next. “It became a game to get ahead of the competition,” says Nicholas.

Eventually, he and his wife, Rebecca, emerged as bonafide antiques dealers with a taste for the rare and unique. The couple moved to Atlanta and began selling at high-end markets. Then, nine years ago, they opened Splurge, a brick-and-mortar in Asheville’s River Arts District that sells vintage objects, antique furnishings, and Nicholas’ own high-end, handcrafted lighting installations. They also run the Uncommon Market, a curated flea market that recently celebrated its seventh season and 50th show. This winter, the duo will unveil their latest and grandest venture: a 50,000-square-foot, design-centric marketplace on Foundy Street. They call it Marquee.

Nicholas has been sitting on this project since 2015, when local real-estate investors Eddie Dewey, Brent Starck, and Chris Eller teamed up to buy 13 acres of land at 339 Old Lyman Street, aiming to develop the tract as a funky adjunct to the River Arts District. The acquisition included eight buildings, and Nicholas instantly set eyes on the largest of them. He drafted a business proposal, though he wasn’t yet sure of his plans for the huge space. 

And then COVID-19 happened. For two months, Splurge closed its doors, and Nicholas had ample time alone with his thoughts. He spent the lonely hours of quarantine creating, but on a break from crafting edgy fixtures and chandeliers, he watched The Greatest Showman, a biographical musical following P.T. Barnum’s life as a circus producer. That’s when the vision for Marquee clicked. Much like how Barnum rounded up talented eccentrics, Nicholas could do the same, but with artists and antique dealers.

Fittingly, Marquee is an amalgamation of 100-some quirky artists, including fashion-designer-turned-chairmaker Jenny Ellis and mixed-media artist Valerie Hoh. Vintage dealers like Sleepy Hollow Antiques, Togar Rugs, and Splurge will also be featured. The idea, says Nicholas, is to offer an elevated experience — one in which old and new pieces find common ground in quality. 

But he doesn’t want the place to feel stuffy. He’s had enough of that. 

“Most people were raised around very high-end, unapproachable, fussy antiques,” he points out. Growing up, Nicholas was surrounded by formal furniture he couldn’t touch or sit on. He wants Marquee to instead be filled with soulfully elegant antiques, ones that have what he calls “perfect imperfections,” aka “The Robert Look.”

“I buy things that move me,” says Nicholas. “It’s like when I met my wife—my heart just leapt.”

Marquee, opens in December (marqueeasheville.com). Located at 36 Foundy St., Asheville, it will be open seven days a week, 10am-5pm, with extended hours for mixers and special events. Check social media (Marquee Asheville on Facebook, @marqueeasheville on Instagram) for updates. Uncommon Market will hold its holiday show Saturday, Dec. 11 and Sunday, Dec. 12, indoors at A-B Tech. See “Uncommon Market Asheville” on Facebook for details.