Jake Niddrle came really close to being on a reality TV program, until the setup for the episode just strayed too far from reality for his taste.
Trader Jake’s China Steps Emporium, tucked away under the China Steps next to Lois Lane, is pure picker heaven. The merely curious and dedicated seeker of curio alike can roll up their sleeves and get their hands dusty digging into the emporium’s nooks and crannies.
Niddrle, 37, has traded since he was a kid growing up in Nanaimo’s Boat Harbour area and is known as the guy who can find nearly anything.
Sixties Japanese guitars, Daisy air rifles from the ‘30s, war and sports memorabilia, a bear skin, antique toys and bikes, motorcycle bits, signs, a child-sized viewing coffin, a stuffed wallaby, flags, cans, religious items, the offbeat and sometimes off-colour, Niddrle probably has it – including a pickled gorilla paw from the 1800s.
“I’m amazed, on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, how many messages I get from people I’ve never met that have been told I’m the guy to get the old bicycle seat from, I’m the guy to get the mailbox cherry bombs from – or whatever horrible thing that people have heard that I can get or have or do,” Niddrle says.
Regular hours aren’t his thing, so it’s best to arrange a meeting through the emporium’s Facebook page and be sure to show up. Niddrle’s not shy about sharing his opinion and the next picker will be sure to hear about what “really chaps my hide.”
John Lemieux runs Sound Heritage at 33 Victoria Cr. The shop is stacked floor to ceiling with vintage home audio gear, records, CDs and video games in one of Nanaimo’s oldest buildings dating back nearly 150 years.
Sound Heritage is for shoppers for whom terms like Armaco, Heathkit, Grundig, Thorens, Shure, Cerwin Vega, Acoustic Research, discreet componentry and transformer coupling hold nostalgia.
Lemieux has bought, sold and traded music and audio gear for 20 years.
“I always wanted to do a record shop,” Lemieux said.
So he sold his former business and opened Sound Heritage.
“Sleeping in the back, basically, scraping as I went along and getting everything I could get everywhere – and the packrat syndrome has not changed,” he said. “I’m still getting more stuff.”
Well Read Books, at 19 Commercial St., has more than 275,000 books on its shelves at any given time. From pulp fiction to hobbies, self-help to hardcover classics, they’ve all been well read and when sold their proceeds support Literacy Central Vancouver Island.
“It’s all donated, so it’s quite eclectic. It’s quite unique,” said Pat Donaldson, bookstore supervisor. “We get estate stuff. In, fact we get some very nice books that way.”
All books are in great condition. The store is well organized, prices are affordable and the store and other Literacy Central Vancouver Island programs that help improve reading and writing skills for children and adults, computer skills and fluency with finances rely mostly on about 120 volunteers.
“There are some highly experienced, highly educated, well-read, very literate people that are in charge of different areas,” said Jacqueline Webster, tutor coordinator.
Steve Lebitschnig has run Fascinating Rhythm, now at 51 Commercial St., since 1988.
It was selected by Stuart McLean, writer and host of CBC’s Vinyl Café as one of his Top 5 favourite record stores in Canada.
Lebitschnig, a former radio station manager, started collecting old radios and record players when he was young.
Lebitschnig says there’s no shortage of vinyl and no sign of his customers appetite for LPs waning anytime soon.