The former Wine Women & Song building will re-open in the spring with a whole new concept. It’s called Antiques, Vintage & Collectibles and will feature estate sale items from around Missouri. That will include furniture pieces with a mix of unique one-of--a- kind vintage items. Those will be real surprises as they can range from wonderful imported clay flower pots to nice linens and porcelain pieces. You’ll always find a surprise lurking where you least expect it.
Judy Smasal worked as a teacher a short time in the 1990's. She taught high school Family and Consumer Science, a fancy term for what was once known as Home Ec. She began her career as a merchant in a little shop on North Maple on the north side of the Cole Camp Inn. It was called "Once upon a Time" and carried lots of country rustic pieces.
As Judy said, “That’s when Country was cool.”
Smasal remained in that little shop from 1994 to 2001 when she bought the building at the 4-way that now houses the popular Handel Haus. She added the tea room to that location in 2002.
The building is very historic, first opened by George and Marie Wellbrock in the 1920's. At the time, it was an upscale building when it was constructed and still is. Blessedly, the magnificent tin ceiling is in mint condition and is worth a trip just to see it.
Smasal is a creative mided woman always looking for new ways to draw shoppers to Cole Camp so in April of 2019, she bought the historic building across the street from Handel Haus and opened it as Wine, Women and Song. The new business featured high teas with crustless sandwiches and mini-quiches. These were served on three tiered trays with scones, biscuits and lemon curd on the second tier. Sweets cookies and fruit kabobs finished it off. It was served on china and was fancy but not stuffy.
In addition, that shop had great merchandise and served special sit-down dinners on Friday evening by reservation only. It wasn’t open long until Covid hit and when that nightmare ended some of Smasal’s family members developed health issues. First, she lost her father and in May 2024, her brother passed away. Barely three months later, in August, she lost her mother. That was the blow that made her realize it was time to take a break.
Smasal decided to sell the building and even though she had some lookers, a deal was never cut. Possibly deep down she didn’t want to give up on that old building after all. And she hasn’t because now it will house this new venture that will provide a whole different concept of shopping in Cole Camp. In addition to her estate sale merchandise, there’s a strong indication there will be a couple added surprises at the location to be announced at a later date.
