Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News) – Every maximalist’s dream lives across four floors on North Salina Street. Vintage fashion jewelry rests beside human teeth priced at $16. Allegedly haunted dolls stare from shelves near 18th-century furniture. Grandfather clocks tick next to pocket knives, which somehow neighbor rare Beatles memorabilia. Empty walls fear this place. This is the Syracuse Antiques Exchange.
“It’s a place to get lost in—the good kind of lost,” said Kevin McGinn, who has worked at the Exchange for three years. Before joining the antique store, McGinn worked in music video set design, sourcing props from the very place he now helps run.
The building itself, constructed in the 1880s, has housed the Exchange since 1991, when founder David Jenks first opened its doors.
The Exchange operates as a co-op, with each dealer renting their own space to curate and sell their merchandise. Walk through any aisle and you’re stepping into dozens of personal collections, each with its own aesthetic and story. One booth might specialize in 1980s action figures. Another in taxidermy. Turn a corner and you’ve entered a record store. Turn again and you’ve entered a vintage clown costume boutique.
“Everybody’s always looking for something a little bit different,” McGinn said. “Everybody’s kind of always on their own journey.” That journey might lead a college student to a $5 vintage sweater, a professor to a first-edition book, or a visiting parent to Depression-era glassware that matches what their grandmother once owned.
Some items have achieved legendary status among regulars and first-timers alike. The Kit Cat Klocks—those classic black cat clocks with swinging tails and rolling eyes—have become “something of a phenomenon” at the Exchange.
“We can’t keep them in stock,” McGinn said, especially around the holidays.
The iconic timepiece has a surprising origin story. Created in 1932 by California designer Earl Arnault during the Great Depression, the Kit-Cat Klock (the official spelling), with its wagging tail and shifty eyes, captivated consumers looking for affordable whimsy during hard times.
Throughout the decades, the Kit-Cat Klock became a fixture of American kitchens and diners, its cheerful face representing mid-century optimism. Although the California Clock Company still produces them today, vintage models from the 1940s through 1960s command premium prices among collectors, while newer versions offer accessible nostalgia.
At the Exchange, both vintage and reproduction Kit-Cat Klocks move quickly. Their appeal spans generations—older shoppers remember them from childhood kitchens, while younger buyers embrace their retro-cool aesthetic.
Located on North Salina Street, the Exchange draws collectors, interior designers, and the simply curious. It’s the kind of place where you enter looking for nothing in particular and leave two hours later with a 1950s lamp, a vintage postcard collection, and the ultimate conversation starter: ‘Oh, this? It’s vintage.’
Its decentralized model means inventory constantly shifts and surprises. What you see today might be gone tomorrow, replaced by an entirely different dealer’s vision.
The Exchange offers something rare: a space where chaos is curated, where clutter tells stories, and where getting lost is exactly the point.
Just don’t expect to leave empty-handed. Or quickly.
The Syracuse Antiques Exchange is open seven days a week at 1629 N Salina St.