Antique Co-op & Auction House Moves Out of Rudermans Building

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The moved out of the Rudermans building at 42 Ferry Street last month and into new digs at 730 Eastern Avenue, across from Honey Dew Donuts.

“Our lease was up. It was time to move,” said David Noonan, president of the co-op, who estimated they had occupied the Ferry Street location for about 15 years. 

He added that the fate of the huge building that originally housed Rudermans furniture next to Malden High School had been uncertain for the past several years. 

At one point the city had considered purchasing it and tearing it down, under a plan that included moving City Hall to the Brunelli Building at Malden High School and expanding the school into a new building to be built on the Rudermans site.  Those plans were never approved and a multi-million dollar high school renovation project is underway without any plans to include the Rudermans site.

Better Items at New Location?

The new location, about 15,000 square feet in a warehouse building on Route 60, isn’t as large or prominent but the space is more manageable and provides a better showcase for the wide variety of wares, from pop-art kitsch items, to antique jewelry, glassware and dining room sets.

And many of the dealers there stepped up their game during the move by purging less desirable items and replacing them with items of more value, according to Jim OConnell, a dealer who specializes in antique lighting.

Co-op is Open Thursday-Sunday

The Co-op is open to the public Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Public auctions, which attract antique dealers from the region, are held every other Saturday at 4 p.m., including this Saturday, May 28.

So what happens with the old furniture store building with more than 79,000 square feet on Ferry Street? It joins the empty former mattress store next door. Both properties are owned by Combined Properties of Malden and are up for lease. But so far, there are no takers, according to Greg Regazzini, director of leasing for Combined Properties.