Bellefonte antique shop owners announce retirement. Here’s what’s next

The owners of a beloved antique store in the heart of downtown Bellefonte will soon be hanging up their eyeglasses, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the line for the borough staple.

Karen and Les Urbanski, the owners of The Great Mish Mosh at 128 S. Allegheny St., announced earlier this month that they’d be retiring at the end of this summer on the business’ Facebook page. The post garnered hundreds of reactions and shares — and loads of heartfelt comments.

The duo have owned the two-story antique store for around three years, having bought it from former owner Brian Herman in 2023 after his retirement. Herman opened the business in 2013 and ran it for 10 years before selling it to the current owners.

At the point of its sale, Karen Urbanski had already been an employee of the store — her then-favorite antique store in the area — for two years.

While most retirement announcements have a pang of sadness, Karen shared in a sit-down interview with the CDT Thursday that she wants her and her husband’s departure to be a “positive and happy” one, as she’d like to sell the store to someone who’s interested in continuing the antique-selling business.

“This place is so, so special to me, and I honestly think that anything outside of an antique store here just wouldn’t feel right — the Mish Mosh and all of its antiques have, in my opinion, become a staple of this town,” Karen Urbanski said.

She continued: “A lot of people have come in and said, ‘Oh I don’t want you to go out of business. We love this place,’ but I really don’t consider this as us going out of business. We’re moving on to our next adventure, and hopefully someone can come in and keep this thing going for years to come.”

While there’s been some early interest in the store’s purchase, Urbanski shared that no deal has yet been made. Instead, she’s actually continuing to purchase goods to sell in the store despite her and her husband’s impending retirement.

For the time being, Urbanski is still running the store as if she’s not retiring, buying new goods from auctions, estate sales and those who show up to the store with something they’d like to sell.

“That’s the glory of all the things here, especially the furniture — every piece has a story, and I find that the customers who come here oftentimes want to continue that story,” Urbanski said. “Every table or dresser or glass in here has lived its own life, and those lives are extended with a new chapter every time someone purchases something.“

She also shared that since the retirement announcement, the store has been busier than its ever been, and she’s even noticed a large amount of foot traffic from one unexpected populous — the youth.

“I’ve been told so many times that young people don’t like stores like this, but that’s very untrue,” Urbanski said. “They’re in here looking for jewelry, knick-knacks, all kinds of things, and there have also been a lot of first-time home buyers who buy an old house in Bellefonte, and they want some furniture that matches their home. It’s assumed that young people don’t want antiques, but I’ve found that they absolutely do.”

When entering The Great Mish Mosh, customers will be quick to notice the wide variety of goods that the Urbanskis have to offer, including Victorian and mid-century furniture, an abundance of jewelry that includes brooches, earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings, glasses, records, comic books, upholstery and much, much more.

The first floor of the store is where the majority of the furniture, heavier items and jewelry are displayed, and the second floor is divvied up into smaller sections that offer goods like comic books, fabric and clothing, regular books, records, lamps and other miscellaneous goods.

According to Urbanski, the staircase to get to the second floor has become somewhat of a popular landmark in town, thanks to its unique decorations — the boards of several vintage board games like Monopoly, Candy Land, Payday, Scrabble and more, taped to the walls like colorful wallpaper.

“When we bought the store, Brian [Herman] suggested taking the board games down and putting display shelves up to sell some more goods, and there have been times when I thought of doing that too to be honest, but I just could never bring myself to it,” Urbanski said. “I love the board game staircase and so do a lot of other people who come in here. It’s iconic.”

As the months to retirement inevitably wind down, Urbanski is hoping to scale down her inventory through a number of sales, including a 20-30% markdown on various items, and more sales to come as the weeks pass by.

Urbanski is also hoping to make a few more memories in the Mish Mosh during her final months there, like the two times that she and her husband had allowed paranormal activity hunters to spend the night in the store.

A customer who took part in the second ghost hunt happened to be in the antique store during the CDT’s interview with Urbanski, and while the customer declined to be named, she noted that the results of the ghost hunt were inconclusive.

“People have told me that we share the space with an entity, but I’ve never been scared in here,” Urbanski added.

Following her and her husband’s retirement, Urbanski said that she’ll still be present at various pop-up events selling vintage and antique jewelry, although the thing she’s looking forward to most is spending more time with her grandchildren.

In their retirement, the Urbanskis will also be building their dream home on a parcel of land near Madisonburg, with some of her favorite pieces incorporated into its decoration.

“I’m excited for retirement but, boy, will I miss the Mish Mosh,” she said. “I’d like to issue a genuine thank you — a thank you to customers, other Bellefonte business owners and anyone else who’s helped out with the Mish Mosh in some way. [Bellefonte] is a great little town.”

Moving forward, customers who would like to keep themselves filled in on The Great Mish Mosh’s sales and other updates can do so by visiting the store’s website and Facebook page. The Great Mish Mosh is open from noon to 3 p.m. on Sundays, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday.