Vintage costume rings are a treat for the eyes and the fingers. Boggs and her friend got the idea for an antique store after they began selling vintage jewelry. (Chronicle photo by Mary Stortstrom)

Vintage jewelry, antique dishes and glassware with a colorful past are just some of the items offered at the recently opened Fabulous Findings antique store in Shepherdstown.

Fabulous Findings, 133 1/2 W. German St., opened just over two weeks ago by Nicole Boggs and Teresa and Michael Whittington and offers “antique to retro treasures.”

Boggs said that the idea for the store formed out of her buying vintage costume jewelry in large amounts at yard sales and antique stores with a friend. After a while, Boggs and her friend had so much jewelry they didn’t know what to do with it, and the friend suggested they sell it.

While Boggs and the Whittingtons began planning, she realized that Teresa knew a lot about the jewelry and other antiques.

“It started coming up that she knew about the old furniture and just a plethora of other antique things,” Boggs said.

Store co-founder Nicole Boggs cleans and polishes an antique sewing machine. Boggs and two friends opened Fabulous Findings two weeks ago. (Chronicle photo by Mary Stortstrom)

Boggs said they had a booth selling jewelry in the region, but sales were slow. Boggs told someone at On Wings of Dreams, another store in downtown Shepherdstown, about what she and her friend were doing and they discussed the idea of getting a storefront. Boggs received an email about the vacancy on German Street a few days later.

“We decided that everything happens for a reason, so we jumped on it,” Boggs said.

Boggs said she thinks she has an advantage by being the only antique store in downtown Shepherdstown. She said she recalls there being similar stores open in town in the past but is not sure when they closed or why.

Boggs gets the majority of her wares from estate and yard sales. The store opens at 10 a.m. during the week with the exception of Tuesdays, when it is closed. On Saturdays and Sundays, it opens at 11 a.m., so Boggs can get up early to go hunt for new items.

“I’m going to be getting up at around 6:30 (a.m.) and out the door by 7 so I can spend a couple hours hitting yard sales in the morning,” Boggs said.

Boggs researches her finds before pricing them. She said she wants to know what time period something is from, how much it is worth and how much other places offer for similar pieces.

Boggs said she is open to haggling and understands that it is the fun part of going to yard sales and antique stores, but also said that her prices are what they are for a reason. Boggs said she might make an exception if an item is in need of some repairs or if a customer is buying a lot.

Antique bottles line the shelves and walls of the shop, and Boggs said she has the most difficulty putting a price on those.

“I like the bottles, but they’re also the bane of my existence. There’s so much variation in the age and whether they’re hand blown or machine made and what condition they’re in,” Boggs said.

Some of Boggs’ favorite items are two of the antique bottles she has found. One of them, a bottle of Shiloh’s Consumption Cure from the 1800s, contained a substance that was later outlawed by the government due to its high heroin content. Another favorite is a bottle made during Prohibition labeled “Medicinal Alcohol.”

Glass bottles, vinyl records, vintage jewelry and antique furniture are retro but not boring in Boggs’ opinion.

“We didn’t want to have your usual mom-and-pop antique shop,” Boggs said. “We wanted to have items that are kind of off the wall and quirky.”

Boggs hopes customers will come in and business will pick up. She said that it is too soon to tell what business will be like, but so far people have come in to pick up a few items and enjoyed the store.

Fabulous Findings is located at 133 W. German St. next to On Wings of Dreams and opens at 10 a.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. on weekends. The shop is closed on Tuesdays.