By Danielle Verderame
Whether you’re a collector, junker, picker, or a weekend traveler, your map search results can help you uncover timeless treasures. If your travels take you anywhere near Buchanan, finding the best place for antiques is easy. You just type, “The Best Place Antiques.”
Full of energy that keeps her working into retirement, Diane Di Palma, who along with her husband Joe runs The Best Place Antiques and The Back Door Market, is running a business that aspires to fulfill its name. She’s selective about which items merit a space in her store because she knows that her customers expect quality. With over 30 years of finding treasures among trinkets, Diane still strives to uphold that reputation.
Back in Buchanan
Diane has built The Best Place from a lifelong love of antiquing. As a child, she accompanied her parents to auctions hunting for glass and other treasures. When starting her own family, she re-entered the world of antiques by setting up her own booth selling antique glass and country finds.
“It was something I could do with my young daughter,” Diane explained.
Moving to Virginia, she opened Eagle’s Wings Antiques in Buchanan. She kept it open for about ten years. Now, with Joe retired, both Di Palmas are in business with The Best Place Antiques.
For the Love of Local
“I’ve always loved this old building with its high tin ceilings and wood floors. Since it’s right in the center of downtown, it seemed like the perfect spot,” explains Diane.
The beautiful building is suited to the “two businesses in one” it houses. At Main Street level, you’ll find The Best Place Antiques, with various antique vendors. While they carry a strong variety, they’re best known for glassware, jewelry, primitives and country-style decor.
The lower level, known as The Back Door Market, offers, “a rather eclectic mix of products, everything from eggs and sunflower seeds to Virginia-made crafts, vintage finds, and gifts.”
Diane and her husband are excited to participate in the revitalized downtown, which often draws tourists off the highway. “There is so much here — right on the edge of the James River and set in the mountains,” says Diane. “I have always been a small town girl. I love living where I can walk to work.”
Visiting her store, you’ll be taken with the beauty, both inside and out. Take a relaxing afternoon at The Best Place to step back in time.
