American Pickers star Frank Fritz’s antique shop slammed as ‘cheap & tacky’ while Mike Wolfe’s store is ‘fan’s dream’
AMERICAN Pickers star Frank Fritz’s Illinois antique shop has been slammed as "cheap and tacky," while Mike Wolfe’s Nashville store is a “fan’s dream.”
Frank, 57, was fired from last month and has been in a two-year feud with former co-star and longtime friend Mike, 57.
While Frank runs Frank Fritz Finds in Savannah, Illinois, Mike owns Antique Archaeology in Nashville, Tennessee.
Frank's reviews from customers are mostly negative, as one Google review from last month read: “Save yourself from this place. It is an extremely small antique store that you need to enter through a restaurant.”
Another customer wrote on Google two months ago: “Frank. As an antique shop you should be embarrassed. Make it like Antique Archaeology. Or tell people it's closed. Embarrassing.”
One Yelp review from April 2021 read: “Stopped by because watch the show a lot… Antique part seems going downhill.”
A Google review from 11 months ago said: “Nothing great about it. You need to walk back by the bar. You feel like you are walking into the kitchen area of the restaurant only to open a door to a storage room that is filled with junk with layers and layers of dust on it. Nothing is organized.
"If you wanted to buy anything that you do find you have to take it to the bar to buy. Very, very weird. I will not go there again for the antique shopping.”
Another customer commented earlier this year: “The items really aren’t that unique. Some items include cheap nascar plaque/clocks. Very tacky. It has more of a thrift store/flea market vibe and look. It looks as the items are from Antique Archaeology reject pile.
"Very dark inside, not much lighting. It definitely has a strong, musty smell, but old building and some old items. So that’s expected. It had a few cool items, but so does any thrift shop… Definitely not worth the time. Clearly not much planning went into this. It’s possible Frank doesn’t even come here.”
But other customers were pleased, as one wrote on Google reviews from earlier this month: “Excellent place to find stuff you're looking for! Helpful and pleasant people!”
A second said last year: “Exactly what you would expect from an antique store. I really liked that there where things from his finds and the prices were not crazy…”
And a third commented from nine months ago: “Based on previous reviews our expectations were low, but it was cooler than we expected, nice staff and good burger!”
The Sun previously reported the in December 2017.
According to the Illinois Secretary of State, the business was created in July 2010.
The business was dissolved because no annual report was filed for 2017.
Though Frank currently has no active business license, his store is still up and running.
MIKE'S REVIEWS
As for Mike’s Nashville store, Antique Archaeology Nashville, he had better reviews from customers.
One fan wrote on Yelp earlier this week: “If you like the show then you gotta go! It was awesome to see items that you’ve seen on the show. I enjoyed that they had typed up captions for some of the items and info on the episode.
“I felt like they sold more of their own [swag] than their picks. It didn’t seem like they had a lot of their picked items here, possibly more of a tourist spot than a place where people appreciate the picks? Either way, a must see if you’re in Nashville.”
One from four months ago read: “We have been fans of American Pickers for years! So we finally drove from Indiana to see this place and we loved it! It's really cool to see all the stuff in there and recognize some of it from the American Pickers show!
“It’s not very big, but it is worth checking out! And there's more next door in the same building too! The girl who worked there was really nice and helpful. So I highly recommend checking this place out!”
Another wrote last month: "It has a lot of souvenir type items there, which is what most visitors are looking for and can afford, BUT they had a good amount of genuine picked items and we recognized a number of them from shows we watched. If you are a fan of the show, I would definitely suggest stopping in."
But Mike did receive negative reviews too, as one on Yelp from May 2021 said: “Meh. I'm a fan of the show and a picker myself. This place was filled with American Pickers merchandise by about 75% to about 25% actual picked antiques.
“This place is not worth the trip if you are headed just for that, but the Marathon museum and shops inside rest of building are worth it. If you are looking for a shirt, or other American Pickers merch, this is your place. Antiques, not so much.”
A second Yelp review from three months ago read: “This was a bit of a disappointment. It's mostly just named, bulked merchandise. Not much of what they have bought themselves, though there is some of that. Just overloaded with corporate type merch.”
As The Sun previously reported, Mike and his estranged wife, Jodi, , which is a business loan program for relief aid during the coronavirus pandemic, for Antique Archaeology Nashville in the amount of $74,097 on April 27, 2020.
FRANK'S FIRING
Frank last appeared on American Pickers during a March 2020 episode, as he took time off to which left him with 185 stitches and two rods in his spine.
During his time off the show, , as he is living a healthier lifestyle and is sober from alcohol.
He also told The Sun that he for 77 days.
Frank said: “I went to rehab and I’ve been sober now for 11 months.
“I didn’t like drinking anymore. My mom was an alcoholic and she died five years ago and it was alcohol-related. My grandfather was an alcoholic and he died. That didn’t sit well with me.”
Frank continued that he goes to meetings "twice a week” after the stint.
He continued: “I sit back and listen and if I get one thing out of one person, that’s enough. I have a couple of sponsors and I’m sponsoring people too.”
Frank said he would’ve been sober for a year if it weren't for a relapse.
Frank continued: “I’m feeling really good. Life is good and I’d like to get back into the swing of things. I wish I had done it five years ago, I would have been a different person.
“It was the best thing for me and I wish I had done it sooner or I wouldn’t be in the position that I am right now.”
Frank has been open about wanting to return to American Pickers after his hiatus, as he said: “I’d still like to get back to my job, I miss my friends and my people and being on the road and meeting all those different characters.”
But Mike .
Frank previously told The Sun he is now .
The firing comes amid his .
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Frank : “I haven’t talked to Mike in two years. He knew my back was messed up, but he didn’t call me up and ask how I was doing. That’s just how it is.
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"The show is tilted towards him 1,000 percent. I can’t even bend that far down to show you how much.
"That’s fine. It’s like you’ve got Aerosmith and there’s Steven Tyler and he’s the front man. I found my spot, I’m second and he’s number one on the show. That’s no problem with me, maybe he does have a problem."
