Editor’s note: This is one story in a series about local businesses in the City of Fairborn. This feature puts a face to the names of those that have been part of the community for many years – some of those best-kept secrets.
Ron Pain owns The Birdcage Treasures & More, a consignment shop with a variety of specialty items, alongside his business partner, Steve Copeland.
Pain was an X-ray technician for about 35 years at Greene Memorial Hospital when he decided he wanted to meet people and make them happy. This decision lead him to ask Copeland what he thought about a consignment shop partnership, as they’d been hosting a flea market booth and wanted to upgrade to something that would help others, but on a larger scale.
They decided upon the name of “Birdcage” which came from the 1996 Robin Williams film of the same name, and added “Treasures & More” to the name to avoid copyright issues.
Pain chose Fairborn because he wanted to give back to the place where he grew up with his family. Pain has 90 consignments available to help customers find what they are looking for. He said he is very picky about his inventory, as he will not sell anything that he wouldn’t buy himself.
This is the Birdcage’s seventh year in operation, and Pain and Copeland are looking to expand to a bigger shop in Fairborn so that they can have more inventory. Besides their consignments, they get inventory from people who may be moving, downsizing or have had a recent death in the family.
He helps customers with the price of the consignment for selling, and includes a 50/50 price agreement contract upon doing business. He gives the people a fair shot at selling their items, but space is limited to certain items for placing. This is all done by appointment with Pain and the client, which is scheduled ahead of time. Sometimes there is a little wiggle room with the prices of some items.
The Birdcage gets business not just from Fairborn but other area communities as well, in addition to other surrounding towns.
If the store doesn’t have an item a customer is looking for, Pain will refer customers to the other two antique shops in town, who also refer customers to him.
He said a lady came into his shop in the past seeking a dream catcher. However, he didn’t have one in stock, so he sent her down the street to the other shop that had the item. The lady returned to him and thanked him for finding the dream catcher for her. He felt that being nice about finding something important to her was important to him, rather than just looking for a sale.
He is very appreciative to Giovanni’s for referrals while people are waiting to pick up pizzas; he said many customers come into the shop after they eat at the local pizza resturant. He has helped in the past with the Fairborn parade and some additional local events, and wants to continue to become more active when possible in Fairborn activities.
He said Fairborn needs more specialty shops like Waynesville, Tipp City and Yellow Springs, as well as more benches for people to rest and food shops for people to snack on while downtown.
