About Us

In November of the year 2000, John and Leslie decided that it was time to clean out the house and sell their little collection of collections. John, a software engineer, had coins and comic books and Leslie had a meticulously kept collection of vinyl LPs. They began selling their stuff on eBay and had so much fun that Leslie put on a dealer hat and they began buying for resale.

So much for cleaning out the house...

In 2002, as Leslie was contemplating renting a storage unit so she could clean out the house that now had even more stuff in it, a light bulb went off in her head and she decided to rent a booth in a local antique mall. It was a charming place called NobHill Antiques.


The building had its beginnings as a grocery and hardware store built in 1860. With the squeaky floor, a wall of small drawers for nails and bins for flour, the original hand-hewn counter AND a pot belly stove, it was older than most of the items in it. It was also off the beaten path and the owners at that time did very little advertising. John, the software guy, wrote a website for the store. He figured that it might help the charming little antique store and his dealer wife, Leslie, to sell stuff and maybe (ahem) clean out the house...

It was a very nice little website. The thing about websites, though, is that you have to put them somewhere. You can't just put it up on the world wide Web (as it was called way back then) and expect that it will be seen. No, you have to link it, park it, find places that people already go so that it can be found. While searching for places like that for antique mall websites, John discovered that there wasn't a whole lot out there and Michigan Antiques Directory was born.

Fast forward to 2011. John decided that the MAD website should be rewritten. Technology moves fast and obsolescence can catch up pretty quickly. The rewrite accomplished two things. One - John was able to add some very up-to-date skill sets to his already impressive portfolio. (just so you know, he's not writing this :))  Two - MAD has an updated look and feel, better functionality, security and an improved framework for future enhancements.

We're excited!

While much has been said about the website and John, the software guy, what about Leslie, the dealer, and her antiques? She had booths in six, count them, SIX different antique malls before she finally realized that, while she had a lot of fun buying and selling antiques, she just wasn't that good at it. With a bunch of kids, a software guy with a full-time job, a house and a big, fat cat... she didn't have time for a hobby.

So, she hung up her dealer hat and FINALLY cleaned out her house. She has joined the software guy in the next phase of Michigan Antiques Directory and they are really looking forward to taking this to the next level.

Best regards,

John & Leslie