BY CORIE LYNN
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Sandwiched between the Soda Shoppe restaurant and Northwestern Office Suppliers in downtown Hays is a storefront labeled Em \u2018n Me Antiques.
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Though collectables and dishes are still visible through the window, the sign facing the street tells passersby that the shop is closed. After fifty years, the store\u2019s proprietors have retired from the business.
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Cal and Joyce Mahin closed Em \u2018n Me on Monday following a storewide sale. This milestone comes long after the couple first ventured into antiquing.
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\u201cI\u2019ve always liked to go to auctions,\u201d Cal said, \u201cand that\u2019s kind of what gets you started into it.\u201d
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The couple had begun with their own collecting before opening a booth at Old Glory Antiques in Oakley.
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Building their business, they eventually opened their first antique store in Colby, where they remained for 46 years. It was in 2010 that they moved to Hays, bringing Em \u2018n Me with them.
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Cal joked that they chose to retire from antiques now because they were old enough to do so. But the reality, he explained, is that it was more difficult to find quality merchandise for their store.
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\u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of auctions […] without spending more than what you can get out of it,\u201d Joyce said.
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Like any other business, the couple had to consider their own utilities and prices for their wares, a fact of which customers weren\u2019t always aware.
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\u201cThere has to be a normal markup just like any retail business,\u201d Cal said.
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Though retiring from the antique business, the Mahins plan on staying busy. Each has their own pursuits, with Joyce working at the Dane G. Hansen Foundation scholarship program and Cal, a collage artist, continuing to show his work in towns across Kansas.
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\u201cI have a studio in the basement here. [It] keeps me off the streets,\u201d he said.
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Even as they move on from Em \u2018n Me, the Mahins do offer advice to other small business owners, antique dealers in particular.
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Keeping a store may be a lot of work, but entrepreneurs should enjoy what they do. Businesses, antiques or other ventures, don\u2019t spring up by themselves.
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\u201cAnd don\u2019t be afraid to try something. I would say that. You never know,\u201d Joyce said.
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In considering their 50 years in the world of antiques, the Mahins stated that their fondest memories come from the people they met. The couple explained they have had visitors from across the world stop in at Em \u2018n Me, groups passing through Hays to some other destination, and travelers who just needed a chat.
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\u201cWe have people from everywhere in the world,\u201d Joyce said. \u201cTourists who are traveling from foreign countries, all over the states, and everybody has a story to tell.\u201d
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Cal explained that their business was a social one, as collectors were more than willing to share their own interests and photos of their collections with the couple.
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\u201cEverybody\u2019s got a collection, and they\u2019ve all got something to talk about,\u201d he said.
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Like any other business, the couple dealt with theft in store over the years, but struggles such as these won\u2019t blemish their years of great experiences.
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They enjoyed their time, whether it was in meeting customers from far locations or hunting for a long-sought-after antique, as the owners of Em \u2018n Me Antiques until the store\u2019s very last day.
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\u201cWe were still having good times [Monday] with folks,\u201d Cal said.
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