LANETT — As another curious shopper walks through the front door, out of the Alabama heat and into the cool room filled with a myriad of items new and old, they are greeted with a warm “Hello, how are you?”

The one behind the counter doing the greeting is the store’s owner, Michelle Klima. Her store is Resurrect Antiques, a building at the intersection of Veterans Memorial Parkway and Highway 29, unmissable thanks to the huge “ANTIQUES MALL” sign on the roof.

Klima has owned Resurrect since she opened its original incarnation in Opelika. When her stock of antique and specialty items outgrew that original location, she packed them and her family up and moved up I-85 to open up shop on Fob James Drive. Two months ago, she moved the store to its current location, where she hopes it stays.

“I love it [in this new building],” Klima said. “It just has a better feel to it, it’s a lot cozier I think, a little more homey. Everybody else seems to like it too.”

She has a knack for moving from place to place for whatever reason, but the original opening of Resurrect was done out of necessity. 

“Honestly I didn’t have a choice,” she said. “It was always a dream of mine to own my own store but I was always scared to. I worked in the corporate world for 15 years and at that time a paycheck every week was a lot more significant than my dream coming true.”

Klima said that buying and selling antiques has always been a passion of hers, stemming back to when she was little.

“I love old stuff and I don’t really know where that comes from, I guess it’s in my blood,” she said. “I remember being at my grandmother’s estate sale when I was 12 years old and wanting to buy everything. Of course then I couldn’t buy anything but I guess that’s when I realized I loved it.”

After losing her job of 15 years she took that passion and ran with it, opening antique booths in places like Angel’s Antiques in Opelika until she was able to open her first store, leading her to where she is now.

Resurrect Antiques shares its building with Bluffton Antique Shop, and the two of them offer everything from furniture to knick-knacks to home decor to designer clothing.

“We try to be different,” Klima said. “I feel like I offer a little bit of something for everybody. It’s not a typical antique flea market.”

That difference is defined by Klima’s eye for products and selection process when it comes to her store. She works with several vendors and sellers, painstakingly choosing only the products she believes will fit the Resurrect Antiques image that she has built.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” she said. “It’s a seven-day-a-week job regardless if you are open every day or not, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. When you do what you love, even though it’s stressful and all it’s still fun.”