For 51 years, shoppers in Medford have found the then and the now at the Yesterday and Today shop.

The phrase "One person's trash is another person's treasure" dates back in some form at least four centuries.

While it was only 51 years ago that Randi Gomel and Robert Gomel began selling antiques and collectibles on Stokes Road in Medford, the old phrase is apt.

(Earlier versions of this story misspelled the Gomels' last name. 70and73.com always appreciates learning when an error is made. Please let us know at contactus@70and73.com)

Walk into their store, Yesterday & Today Shop on Stokes Road, and in the window you will find the cigar store Indian that has stood watch since the beginning, the couple's good luck charm.

But navigate the aisles and you will see:

Paintings of people of the past and landscapes featuring floral landscapes decorate some walls. 

Dresses in many colors and lengths — including the little black dress that proverbially works for any occasion — hanging throughout the store.

Accessories such as scarves in a rainbow of colors and many with fashionable fringe on the ends are also available. 

And jewelry — including pendants, necklaces, from the very short to the very long, and rings made of gold and silver with a variety of decorative accents fill and cover parts of glass display cases.

This is the domain of the Gomels, who in the beginning decided to use space along the then-relatively isolated stretch of Stokes Road in Medford as a venue for showcasing their shared love of antiques. The couple filled it with items it found while visiting auctions, estate sales and the like as they traveled.

The wide variety makes up the shop's eclectic merchandise.

Our FIXTURES feature focuses on businesses or other institutions that over the decades have become part of our lives. Do you want to read about a long-standing business or other institution that has become a FIXTURE in your life? Tell us. If we use your suggestion, we will send you a 70and73 hat. Send email to contactus@70and73.com. Below, see the FIXTURES that already have been featured. — Editor

Since the Gomels do not travel as much as they used to, much of the shop's merchandise these days is found on websites, Randi explained.

"You have to know to constantly change and be on the lookout for new items. Each decade things are changing faster," she told 70and73.com of her greatest personal and professional tests as the co-owner of a shop. "The community also changes so you have to change with your community and people change."

The COVID-19 pandemic showed how she and the business of running a shop have changed, she said.  

"I used to have a lot of exhibitors that would come to me. A lot of shows were closed down. So, it was challenging," she said. "I would have gone crazy if the pandemic happened 14 or 15 years ago. I find I am much calmer about things now."

Randi's excitement about some of the items she sells is evident to the visitor.

The shop's Facebook page is an excellent way to experience that enthusiasm, such as the handmade purses and the partial sabretooth cat skeleton that have been offered for sale in recent years. A great many of the items can also be found and purchased on the shop's website.  

Randi noted that many of her customers come from outside the Medford area and just as many customers span multiple generations of the same family, and that she is considering several options on the best way to serve them in the future.

IF YOU GO

Yesterday and Today is at 668A Stokes Road in Medford. The shop is open from 12:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and closed Sundays. The shop's website is at theyesterdayandtodayshop.com.

Fixtures is a regular feature of 70and73.com, celebrating the aspects of our suburban life that have become fixtures in our world. Often, they can be businesses. But not always. If you have a nominee, send it to contactus@70and73.com.

70and73.com FIXTURES:

• For 51 years, shoppers In Medford have found the then and the now at the Yesterday and Today shop.
• Reily's Candy of Medford has spent 60 years satisfying the area's chocolate cravings.
• For decades, cheesesteaks have sizzled on the grill at 66-year-old Chick's Deli in Cherry Hill.
• Odd memento for framing? Creativity guides Hawthorne Gallery & Frame in Medford.
• Video games? Naw. At the two Happy Hippo Toys, playtime has long meant the traditional.
• Staying power: Cherry Hill's Springdale Farm has been working the ground for 74 years.
• For 30-year owner of Diane's water ices in Voorhees, life has been continuous flavor hunt.
• Inspired by Grateful Dead, Woodstock Trading Company in Cherry Hill around since 1980s.
• Online orders? Not at 65-year-old Carl's Shoes in Moorestown. It's all about 'sit and fit.'
• Erlton Bicycle Shop in Cherry Hill has spent nearly 50 years putting suburbia on two wheels.