Since December of 1991, Polly Ann and Bob Blythe have run Polly Anns Vintage Market out of a 3,500 square foot building at 103 A Ave SE in historic Mount Vernon, Iowa, a small Linn County town east of Cedar Rapids known for its tree lined main street and Cornell College campus. Now in its fourth decade, the shop has built a reputation as a place where, in the owners own words, quirky trinkets and timeless collectibles sit alongside actual kitchen sinks and where hardly a nook or cranny goes unfilled. Around a dozen vendors rotate through the space, each bringing a different slice of the vintage world, so a visitor browsing on a Tuesday and returning the following month is likely to find an entirely different mix of furniture, glassware, textiles, and small decor.
The husband and wife team divides the work along complementary lines. Polly Ann has spent decades developing an eye for pieces other people overlook, worn chairs, tarnished hardware, chipped crockery, and matching them with buyers who see the same potential she does. Bob handles the restoration and building side, custom crafting harvest tables, kitchen islands, cupboards, and mantles from reclaimed material, so shoppers looking for a piece sized to their own kitchen or dining room can commission something built rather than settle for whatever happens to be on the floor that week. Polly Ann has her own custom line as well, designing flannels, jackets, and vests finished with vintage inspired patches and personal touches, a sideline that has become its own draw for regulars who come back season after season for a new one off piece.
Beyond the shop itself, the Blythes extend their hospitality into lodging, operating the Blythe Cottage Inn bed and breakfast from their home, an option worth knowing about for out of town pickers planning a full day, or weekend, of shopping the Mount Vernon area. Polly Anns Vintage Market also takes its inventory on the road several times a year, setting up at six to eight pop up shows and markets across the region, which gives the business a presence beyond its home storefront and lets first time visitors sample the shops style before making the trip to Mount Vernon itself.
Current hours run from noon to 4 p.m., with appointments available outside that window by calling ahead, a schedule that suits the shops emphasis on unhurried browsing over quick retail turnover. The shop has earned consistent praise from shoppers, with ratings hovering around 4.7 out of 5 stars across review platforms drawing on well over seventy reviews, reflecting a customer base that keeps returning rather than a single burst of novelty interest. Mount Vernon itself, a compact town along the old Lincoln Highway corridor, gives the shop a built in day trip appeal for Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area residents looking for a short drive with a genuine small town shopping destination at the end of it.
What distinguishes Polly Anns from a typical antique mall is this combination of hands on craftsmanship and storytelling. Pieces here are described by the owners as carrying stories from days gone by, and the shops own restoration and custom build work means that inventory is not simply collected and resold but actively reworked into pieces meant for continued daily use, not display only. For collectors, gift shoppers, and anyone furnishing a home who wants furniture and decor with real history behind it, Polly Anns Vintage Market is a long running, family operated vintage furniture and collectibles shop in Mount Vernon, Iowa, where restoration craftsmanship and nearly thirty five years of curation come together under one roof.
