Sam Elardo has a self-proclaimed obsession with flea market finds. As the owner of a men’s clothing store in Helena for 25 years, he used antique furnishings in his displays, which he says he “became obsessed with upgrading.” While at market for clothing in New York, he would rise at dawn each Sunday and congregate with locals at neighborhood flea markets, rummaging through a sea of estate furnishings and accessories.
Eventually, he shipped home so many that he decided to open an antique store. No longer in the clothing business, he now owns Helena’s Gracious Living Antiques, housing his finds both past and present, including an impressive collection of silver-plated napkin rings.
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