Jun 7, 2009

The Pink Elephant opens today in La PorteBy Laurie WinkTheNewsDispatch.com

Michigan City – The Pink Elephant, described as “a savvy resale shop,” opens today at 510 Lincolnway in La Porte. Among an array of antique stores, this one stands out because of its bright begonia color with architectural details highlighted in black.

The shop is filled with items as eclectic as its owners, Kathy and Marc Gleser, of Rolling Prairie. The couple has traveled throughout Europe during more than 25 years of buying and selling antiques.

Marc’s passion for antique musical instruments is readily apparent, with more than a dozen violins strung up on one wall of the shop and other instruments – drums, flutes, trombones, French horns and an organ – displayed throughout the store.

The Glesers’ antiques business sprung out of Marc’s childhood fascination with musical instruments. His father was a classical musician who started a business buying, selling and repairing instruments.

“I grew up tripping over instruments,” Marc said. He inherited his father’s musical gift and learned to play the saxophone, clarinet and bassoon. After majoring in music at Long Island University, he taught special education in Harlem.

For 10 years, Marc toured with a jazz band performing on “the motel circuit,” he said.

While traveling in Europe in the ’80s, the Glesers saw a market for American-made musical instruments. Europeans considered Elkhart, Ind., as the center of the musical instruments business, Marc said.

“World War I and II left them without very many instruments,” he said. “We started selling second-hand instruments to Europeans.”

Kathy fell in love with European antiques and, with a strong dollar, they were relatively inexpensive. So the Glesers used money from the sale of instruments to purchase antiques.

Read complete article.