Real estate lawyer’s newest deal is his own antiques store

As he stands amid the tchockies at his new antique furnishings store, attorney Bill Jacobson is not in lawyer mode.

He isn’t Mr. Downtown West Palm Beach, where for years he’s shrewdly crafted real estate deals and won city approvals on projects.

Instead, today he’s just another passionate lover of collectibles, a man entranced by a 150-year-old gate-leg game table. He lifts the drop leaf to reveal a hidden leg and felt table cover for playing cards.

At his new North Palm Beach antique store, dubbed I Found It, Jacobson seems in his element, gushing over a mid-century wood server with sliding glass doors. A collector himself, Jacobson, 67, is eager to show off his own collection of record albums: “Want to see it?”

The store is an outgrowth of his other venture, the West Palm Beach Antique And Flea Market, which takes place Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Banyan Boulevard and Narcissus Avenue in front of the old West Palm Beach City Hall. There is no admission fee and parking is free. About 40 vendors participate. Their wares include furniture, vintage and craft jewelry, vintage clothing, records and various collectibles.

This is the market’s fourth year, and in that time, Jacobson has been adding to his collections for sale. Jacobson says he mainly emphasizes mid-century pieces from the 1950s and 1960s, including furniture, artwork and accessories.

Jacobson started the antique and flea market for fun, but it soon took on a life of its own. As is often the case with die-hard collectors, things got to a point where there was no more room in Jacobson’s garage for his finds.

Plus, “We had a real strong demand for more of the type of product that was offered at the market,” Jacobson said. “Over 50 percent of the people (at the market) asked us if we had a store, and that was the impetus for opening.”

In late August, he opened the 3,500-square-foot I Found It store, located on Alternate A1A just north of Northlake Boulevard, in the Live Oak Plaza. The store is open seven days a week.

The business has expanded as Jacobson branched into estate sales. Thus, I Found It is filled with an eclectic range of furniture and decorations, ranging from wood-carved chairs to crystal lamps to an alarming number of female mannequins, some draped with feather boas.

How much is that giant stuffed zebra toy in the window?

And why is it even there?

Jacobson said many of the oddball items (an ashtray that looks like a CB radio, for instance) wind up being knickknacks that decorators seek to make clients’ homes unique. Others are nostalgia pieces, such as an old mixer coveted by a chef at a well-known restaurant.

Jacobson will buy entire estates or a few pieces. He knows there’s a market for people who want to sell their stuff and move or downsize. And there’s an equal number of people who love rummaging, or are forever looking for that throwback item.

Jacobson, who works a full week as a real estate lawyer, says he mans the Saturday market himself looking decidedly unlawyerly — unshaved and casually dressed.

He said some bargain hunters try to haggle too low on an item’s price, on the assumption he needs the money. Or maybe he just looks like he does.

But Jacobson still has his day job, which he admits isn’t as fun as the antiques gig. Real estate may be his profession, but furniture is in his blood. His grandfather owned a furniture store.

So now, instead of his former Saturday hours spent toiling at the office, he’s out and about in the outdoors, chatting with people and delighting when a forlorn yellow side table finds a home with a buyer who thinks it perfect for a child’s bedroom.

There’s an added bonus: “I’ve picked up several clients at the market,” Jacobson said with a smile.