CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Changes are planned in Czech Village, as longtime business owners recently sold multiple buildings and a new bookstore/coffee shop is expected to open in the coming months.
Pam Lewis and her husband, Ken, who have owned and operated Czech Village Antiques for decades, are selling their properties as they look to retire from the business.
As part of the sales agreement, the multi-dealer antiques mall, at 82 16th Ave. SW, will remain open until the end of 2025, Lewis said, to allow vendors time to relocate or close.
Czech Village Antiques in Cedar Rapids will remain open through the end of this year. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
The mall, which is actually three buildings at 78, 80 and 82 16th Ave. SW, Lewis noted, might be remembered by some as the location of the Coast-to-Coast store in Czech Village during the 1960s and 1970s.
She and her husband also sold the building next door, most recently Harlequin Home, a vintage furniture and home accessories consignment shop at 76 16th Ave. SW, as well as a parking lot behind the buildings.
“We’re getting older,” said Lewis, who is 75. Her husband is 81. “We just can’t do the physical work needed to maintain the buildings and needed to maintain the business.”
Pam Lewis stands in front of Czech Village Antiques during the 2015 Houby Days festival. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
The developer who purchased the properties has no plans to keep the antiques mall open, she noted, but will modernize the 1920s-era buildings for other businesses.
“He has no other properties in Czech Village, so it’s fresh blood, and he’s very excited about it,” said Lewis, who declined to name the buyer and purchase price.
About 15 vendors currently rent space in the antiques mall, selling vintage jewelry, antique glassware, cast iron skillets, vintage toys and more. Lewis said she expects the vendors to keep their spaces full until the end, as they empty storage units and garages.
Pedestrians make their way down Czech Village on June 10, 2025, in Cedar Rapids. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
She and Ken also maintain a space in the mall, offering Czech folk costumes known as kroje, beer glasses, paintings, primitives, and other items from the Czech Republic, as well as military memorabilia for collectors.
The couple lived in the Czech Republic for years, traveling back and forth to the United States, while Pam, an attorney, taught academic writing at Palacký University in Olomouc, about 2 hours east of the Czech capital of Prague. Ken, an artist, stayed on a long-term visa until the program changed and they eventually moved back to Iowa.
They have owned Czech Village Antiques for about 30 years and the buildings for the past 15 years.
“We just had our best month in May,” Lewis said of gross sales at the mall. “This has nothing to do with the economy. This is not one of those stories.”
A new bookstore and coffee shop are planned for the former Hospoda building in Czech Village. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Just doors down in Czech Village, plans for a new bookstore and coffee shop are underway to open in the former Hospoda pizza place and bar, 62 16th Ave. SW, possibly by October.
The Facebook page for “I’ll Meet You There” notes the shop is “a space where stories, community and comfort intersect; encouraging people to connect over books, coffee and a shared love of cozy moments.”
See photos from the Houby Days festival in Czech Village and more from Czech Village Antiques, below:
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