Florence's Thieves Market offers mixed bag to bargain hunters

FLORENCE — Arlo Guthrie touted “you can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant,” but Alice’s pales in comparison to the Thieves Market where the Double Yellow-Headed Amazon parrots speak English and Spanish.

The parrots and 78 other birds Williams Goins owns aren’t for sale, but everything else in the 22,000-square-foot facility is. You name it and Goins is liable to have it at the Thieves Market, which opened in January at 1820 E. Palmetto St.

“We sell anything from antiques to accessory items to antique rugs,” Goins said. “We have a total of 60 dealers and consignors in the building. All have their own spot and are responsible for keeping it up. Then we sell the items for them.

“We rent by the square foot. The dealers and consignors tell me how much square footage they think they need and then I keep a percentage of what they sell.”

The best-selling items are chandeliers and Oriental rugs. The chandeliers range from $50 up to $1,000, while the rugs fetch from $700 to $2,000.

The most expensive item Goins has sold thus far is a $2,200 garden fountain.

Among some of the more unusual items are Dick and Jane books and antique tools. One antique tool is an 8-foot-tall shovel used to put telephone poles in the ground.

And there’s a large star on the wall up front.

“I think it was copied after the Texaco star,” Goins said. “A lady on the way to Myrtle Beach bought it, but didn’t have enough room to take it home. So it’s here until she comes back with a truck.”

Goins also has a lot of large signs. Among them are Gulf, Texaco and Exxon signs.

“The majority of the signs come from private collections,” he said. “People just get tired of them or else the owners have gone into retirement homes and things like that. They’ve enjoyed them all these years and now it’s time for somebody else to enjoy them for awhile.”

But the massive inventory aside, Goins’ birds take center stage in the Thieves Market.

Big Bird and Sunshine are Double Yellow-Headed Amazons from Honduras. They speak English and Spanish.

“They can sing ‘Happy Birthday,’” Goins said. “Big Bird talks about going to work. He mostly complains about going to work.”

And floating around outside their cages are a Sun Conure named Madonna and a Goffin Cockatoo named Desi Arnaz.

“They have their routines and they have trained me,” Goins said. “Madonna chirps like a smoke detector does when the battery is dead. She keeps chirping until I bring her a snack. She likes almonds.

“And Desi just yells. He knows if he yells five to 10 times in a row that I’m going to come talk to him.”

Goins has around 80 birds. Most of them are rescues.

“Parrots have a life span of 60 to 80 years, so they usually outlive their owners,” he said. “The families don’t know what to do with the birds, so I inherit them.

“Parrots need a lot of attention. The store is a good location because different people are always coming in and talking to them.”

And the Thieves Market is pet friendly. Goins said all animals are welcome, even the unusual ones.

“One customer came in with a lizard perched on his shoulder,” he said, “and another one had a black and white rat peeping out of his pocket.”

The Thieves Market is open Monday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sundays from 1:30 to 5 p.m. The Web site is ThievesMarket.org and the telephone number is (843) 664-8103.