The Face of Antiques in Fayetteville

Excerpted courtesy of Celebrate! Magazine

November 2006
By Lea Milford
Photos by Kori Hudson

Quality antiques is a term that definitely describes another Fayetteville antiques store. French Metro's front French parterre garden hints at the shop's classic, clean attitude.

Renee Hunt and her husband Terry have been in the antiques business for seven years. They make frequent trips to France. They choose each piece of furniture and accessory that graces the shop. Renee says her customers "really appreciate fine craftsmanship and the history of our pieces. We only do antiques. No reproductions or new items, which is kind of a rare thing in antiques shops today."

The setting is ornate, yet simple. A pair of girandoles (gold, figural lamps) drip with Baccarat crystals and stand proudly on a Louis XVI-style console table. A trumeau mirror rests on the wall behind, a backdrop for the lavish lamps, yet a stand-alone piece, itself.

In another room of the spacious store, a baker's rack sits loaded with a collection of kitchen and garden-related copper. A watering can with a long spout, molds, baking pans, and saucepans need no additional decoration. Their rustic, warm finish invites a touch from passerby.

Renee says, "We always have a big to-do when each shipment arrives." Every four months, they receive a shipment, a forty-foot container of French items, making the inventory change drastically several times a year. She says of her shop's arrangement, "The way we display our things is more like an art gallery."