Business profile: Steff's Stuff

Hidden gems abound at Steff’s Stuff, the expansive consignment and antique shop in the Centre Shops on Longboat Key. Sitting on the edge of the row of shops, it’s often passed over as hungry visitors head to the shopping center’s restaurants, but the tried and true treasure trove is full of bits of Longboat Key history. 

Owner Stephanie Claussen has been in the antique business most of her life, following in her grandmother and mother’s footsteps. The three women ran Buttercup Antiques in Venice for 17 years before Claussen, a resident of Longbeach Village since 1983, opened a shop in Whitney Plaza as her motherly mentors retired. 

Everything in her store has always been preowned (or “recycled,” she said), but she made the move to the Centre Shops about three years after opening the Whitney Plaza store and ramped up consignment then, too. 

“I made a split-second decision to move down here and the consignment end of the business really went crazy,” Claussen said. “All of a sudden, all these people on the south end of the island were coming in.” 

There’s a little bit of everything in the shop, from tiny tchotchkes to high end cookware. Claussen gets her stock mostly from Longboat Key clients as well as from scouring garage sales, estate sales and flea markets. When she has consignment clients, she’ll often go to their homes.

“I still go to the people's homes here on Longboat, which is a treat sometimes,” Claussen said. “There's some pretty spectacular places, and some of these people have art better than museums on their walls, and at least I get to see it.”

Claussen has been at 5380 Gulf of Mexico Drive since 2011 and she has built regulars over the years. New business is sometimes tough to come by because the shop is tucked in the back of the Centre Shops and is hard to see from the road, but vacationers will come in year after year, telling her that this is a must-stop on their vacations.

“It always makes me feel good,” Claussen said. “A lot of people say, ‘Oh, young people don't like this stuff anymore.’ And I'm like, 'Not true.' Because I get young people and children. Young adults are still collecting.”

She’s had plenty of gems come in over the years, from older people cleaning out their homes and finding their parents’ true vintage belongings to estate sale finds. Once on Longboat Key, she found a tiny bird figurine and bought it for $5. After some research, she found out that it was by an Australian artist, and someone was collecting their work. It wound up selling for $500.

“I have a passion for this business,” Claussen said. “I love the history. I love finding out about things. I learn something new every day, even though I've been doing it for 40-something years. It never gets boring.”