Only Yesterday Leaving Ocean City Boardwalk After 31 Years

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Richard Chapman has seen a lot in his more than three decades on the Ocean City Boardwalk. The antique dealer has seen some changes over the years, and now his store is going to become one of them. Only Yesterday is moving to Asbury Avenue after 31 years on the boardwalk.

“We loved being on the Boardwalk,” Chapman said. “We’re going to miss the social interaction.”

And people who interacted with them are going to miss them, too. Only Yesterday is moving from 1108 Boardwalk down the street to the home of Chapman and his wife, Ilona Shafer. The move isn’t far, but the feel is very different.

“Customers are already complaining that we won’t be on the boardwalk,” Chapman said. “People come to Ocean City and they go to the boardwalk. We’re on our third generation of customers, and they like having us here.”

And they enjoyed the summer nights where visitors would pack their store, thumbing through comic books, vinyl records and the various other antiques that made the store a Boardwalk staple.

“The first stop I make on the boardwalk! Baseball cards, comics and movie posters come home with us every year,” one of their customers posted on Facebook. “Been going since I was a kid and look forward to visiting every summer.”

“The best place on the boardwalk great prices great service outstanding items that they have for sale and a lady and her husband that run that store are very nice and honest people,” another wrote.

“The Boardwalk is a very popular place,” Chapman said. “People are there having a great time. They’re on vacation. It’s just a great place to do business.”

Antique dealers need a flow of items coming through their shop to keep business hopping. In addition to going to auctions and shows, Only Yesterday has built up a base of customers who come back and sell some of their own antiques.

“People call when their mother dies or they’re retiring and moving to smaller settings,” Chapman said. “More and more, we’re getting merchandise from individuals who don’t need it and don’t want it. When you’re in this business and you have a good reputation, people trust you.”

But Chapman and Shafer are getting older and it’s not as easy to keep up with the pace of the Boardwalk. Chapman has MS and moving the store will make managing it easier on his legs. They’re looking to do less while staying in business.

The antique business is also in decline. Chapman said people aren’t collecting things like they used to, and shopping for items online has contributed to a decline in prices.

“People aren’t as interested as they used to be,” Chapman said. “They don’t have to have every last Matchbox car.”

Over the last 25 years, he’s noticed a decline in how much people want to spend on shopping as well.

“There’s been a movement to more moderately priced stuff,” Chapman said. “We’ve had to bring our prices down over the years, and the crowds are somewhat thinner than they used to be. While many consider the destruction of the middle class to be a Democratic talking point, my wife and I consider it to be a palpable reality.”

The Fall Block Party may have been Only Yesterday’s last hurrah on the Boardwalk, although Chapman left open the possibility that the store will stay one more weekend, weather dependent. Then the store will close, and the long moving process will begin.

Once they leave, some of the diversity it brought to the Ocean City Boardwalk will leave with them. Chapman said they will always be appreciative of their landlord, who they believe cut them a break on their rent all these years because they offered up a little something different.

And although he understands the magic that is the Ocean City Boardwalk, Rich Chapman hopes the island’s visitors and the customer base they’ve built up over the years will take time to visit Only Yesterday’s new location, at 1137 Asbury Avenue.

The attached image was posted on Only Yesterday’s Facebook page, and used with permission.