Passion of collectors keeps Hightower Collectibles going

For Randy May, co-owner of Hightower Collectibles, it’s a hockey-playing Snoopy that proves irresistible.

“Probably the one collection that I most cherish is my Snoopy hockey collection,” he said. “If it’s Snoopy and it’s hockey, and he’s got a stick and he’s not wearing skates, then I’m in danger of buying it.”

For others with the itch to collect, it might be diecast model cars or sports memorabilia or that table-top Christmas village that grows each year.

It’s the passion of such collectors that keeps Hightower Collectibles going as it begins its 35th year in business — even though it didn’t start out as a collectibles store.

The family-owned Colorado Springs business began in 1975 as Victoria Hightower, a novelty gift and needlepoint store run by Randy’s mother, Jeanne May. She had bought the contents of a needlepoint store in Chicago — “needlepoint at that time was my love,” she says — and brought them with her when the family moved to the Springs.

“It was a bribe,” said Jeanne May, who is semi-retired but still does bookkeeping for the store. “My husband bribed me to get me from Chicago to here with a needlepoint store.”

Over the years, though, the gift side of the business nudged out the needlepoint. Success in selling Christmas villages caused the store to begin focusing on collectibles, Randy May said, and in 1993 the store changed its name to Hightower Collectibles.

Along with one name change, the shop has moved several times, from downtown to The Citadel mall to Woodmen Road. Recently, it moved to 7624 N. Academy Blvd., in part to escape upcoming work on the Woodmen/Academy interchange, Randy May said. He is also excited to have a Michaels nearby; the arts and crafts store, he said, is a perfect match for Hightower.

The new space is about 25 percent smaller than the Woodmen location, but is more efficient and shopper friendly, May said — a straight line rather than “20 feet this way, 10 feet that way.” The Christmas village display in the back is now accompanied by walls filled with inventory so that shoppers can see what’s available instead of May needing to retreat to a back room.

Christmas villages — and growing sales of Halloween houses — account for the most sales in the final quarter of each year, May said. The other nine months, “it’s the diecast cars.” Overall sales this year, he said, are about even with last year so far.

Probably the most affordable line the store carries is Willow Tree, known for its angel collection, May said. At the other end of the price range are some high-end diecast cars, including a thousand-dollar Shelby Daytona coupe made of pewter.

Collectibles is largely “an older person’s game,” May said. “If your 401(k) is in pretty decent shape and you’re an empty nester, you’re going to be a prime candidate to want to purchase items from us.”

But the younger crowd also makes it to the store, he said.

“One of our best customers is a middle-schooler. If he gets straight A’s, he gets a diecast car.”

HIGHTOWER COLLECTIBLES

Address: 7624 N. Academy Blvd.

Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Phone: 548-1706

Web site: www.hightowercollectibles.com

Special event: A grand opening to mark Hightower’s new location will be Saturday. Refreshments, drawings for prizes, and 25 percent off items “retired” by holiday village maker Department 56.