Antique sellers 'Locked' out as trendy street goes upscale

Rising rents and Locke Street's transformation to an upscale boutique-style shopping haven have prompted the area's third antique store to abandon the district for up-and-coming Ottawa Street.

Antiques on Locke, a fixture as the street was gentrified over the past 10 years, reopens Sept. 25 as Antiques Unlocked, amid a new buzz on Ottawa Street that has merchants there buoyed.

"I started it," jokes Patrick Dalton of Decades Collectibles, who moved to Ottawa Street 18 months ago after five years on Locke.

"The first three years (on Locke) were amazing, but then I started to see the focus of the street change," Dalton says. "When I heard Starbucks was coming, I was down on Ottawa Street the next day."

Dalton says he prefers the practical diversity of Ottawa Street's 109 vendors covering just about everything for the home, and more.