“Now going into our third year, customers have really caught on to our joint efforts during this weekend after Labor Day,” said Dale Sosniecki, co-owner of two participating shops, the Coach Light Hallmark Gold Crown and Coach Light’s American Country. “For weeks my customers have been checking to make certain that our group of stores are repeating this event.”

While many of the stores are located in downtown Moberly, there are also some on the outskirts including Country Treasures Antiques and Collectibles, on Country Road 2320 (east on Highway 24 and south on CR 2310 will take you to Laurannah Haynes’ shop), Glory Days Scrapbooking (3310 Highway JJ) and the Route A Country Store (less than half a mile west of S. Morley) which offers antiques, gifts and farm fresh produce. Central Christian College of the Bible is also hosting an open house in its bookstore which offers gift items as well as books.

Sosniecki said the Fall Open House has advanced past the stage of offering specials to local residents.

“In the early stages, these coordinated antique and gift store open houses originally found an audience with area residents,” said Sosniecki. “But now, with 17 stores promoting together – all with compatible merchandise on their shelves – we’ve had people come in as far as St. Louis and Quincy to see what all the excitement’s about.”

Sosniecki said participating shops will be easy to spot thanks to new Fall Open House window banners, compliments of the Moberly Antique mall, another participating store located downtown. Lists of participants are available in each of the 17 stores.

Sosniecki emphasizes that hours and activities for each store taking part in the weekend event will vary.