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Tens of thousands of cars travel along Ohio 4 on a daily basis, and drivers of all those cars are invited to attend the official grand opening of the Ohio Valley Antique Mall, 7285 Dixie Highway, Fairfield. The celebration will begin Friday, April 25, and will last until Sunday, April 27.

"We really didn't advertise the opening in January," Faxon said about the soft opening of the store earlier this year. "We weren't going to have a grand opening until we were 85 percent full. We knew it was going to be a few months.

Since January, hundreds have turned into the parking lot at the Ohio Valley Antique Mall to see what bargains they could find, Faxon said.

"It's busy," said owner Paula Faxon, a former dealer at the now-closed Brass Armadillo in West Chester Twp. "Everything's going wonderful. Out of 350 booths, we have maybe 20 left (to fill)."

During the week, Faxon said at least 200 people go to the antique mall, and 500 to 600 are shopping each weekend day.

Faxon hopes after this weekend's official grand opening, more people will patronize the business, housed in the old Van Leunens store at Woodridge Plaza.

The three-day grand opening celebration will begin with a noon ribbon-cutting by Vice Mayor Michael Oler, and he will walk around and talk with patrons and people that own the booths.

Daily, patrons will get free Danishes and coffee in the morning, a grill-out lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and opportunities to earn gift certificate. Also, patrons will have a chance to win a color television as a door prize.

Fairfield Economic Development Manager Greg Kathman said the antique mall is adding to the niche of Ohio 4 being a destination corridor.

"One of the strengths (of Ohio 4) is it has a number of destination businesses — businesses that people will drive to visit," Kathman said. "We think this antique mall will fit into that destination niche that we have."

And filling in a large anchor-space vacancy, the mall will have spill-over effects to neighboring businesses within Woodbridge and also gives a positive impression of people entering the city from the south.

Faxon said a food court and customer lounge will open next month. The Ohio Valley Antique Mall is open daily 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call (513) 874-7855 or visit ohiovalleyantiques.com.

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5112 or mpitman@coxohio.com.

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