ENID, Okla. — With an inventory from all eras and an uncanny ability to think outside the box, a local antique store and destination prop house has made it onto the big screen.
Broadway Antiques and Uniques, owned by Cindy and John Greven, of Enid, does much more than sell antiques. For the last few years, Cindy has sold or lent items from her store to be used as props in movie productions.
The 22,500-square-foot building, located at 129 E. Broadway, features several stories of shopping available to the general public, but the treasure trove of movie props hides in the 7,500-square foot basement.
Cindy said the store is turning the basement into a prop house and organizing it to rotate upstairs inventory.
“People are dying to get down here and are constantly calling me asking if I have whatever item they’re in search of,” she said.
Cindy got started in the prop business in 2016, when the movie “Wildlife” came to town. The movie was partially filmed in Enid, featuring Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan. 
Since then, she has led prop procurement and contributed her expertise to the art and set dressing of several films, including “The Bygone,” “To The Stars,” “What Josiah Saw” and more. Cindy was most recently the art director for “What Josiah Saw,” which is set to be released this year.
Designers and artists employed by productions know to call her for help finding props.
Cindy said people would be surprised buying or renting truckloads of items from Broadway Antiques’ basement, and would be surprised what they’re looking for.
She has props available like art, lamps, lamp shades, stereos, furniture, books, phones, hair dryers, hats, apparel, make-up, old TVs, jewelry, pocket knives and more. Items from all eras are needed in a film, even if an actor never interacts with the piece.
Something as small as a tube of lipstick on the bathroom counter can be found on the list of things needed to dress a set, Cindy said.
“In the antique store business, people just don’t buy lamps,” she said. “But in the prop business, that’s like the thing, the quintessential thing. We have a huge array of these lamps and we used so many of them in ‘What Josiah Saw.’”
More than just stuff
When Cindy doesn’t have what someone is looking for, she calls in local help to find props from things like taxidermy pieces to caskets.
“We are lucky to be in Oklahoma,” she said. “A lot of people have commented they have never seen people pull together like we do. If we don’t have what someone needs, we can find it.”
Cindy said she tries to do everything local, encouraging film purchasers to buy local items and giving them discounts on their orders if they buy local.
“One of my goals was to be able to have an area where you can see the movie props from all of the different movie props in Enid, because it’s Enid history,” she said. “But we are space limited now. I hope to do it someday.”
Cindy has been in Enid since 1984 and has always bought and sold items, citing the hobby-turned-career as “just fun.” She bought her first store front on 211 E. Broadway (now home to Family Martial Arts) nearly a decade ago, then moving up the block to the current location on 129 E. Broadway.
Besides vendors, Cindy gets most of her inventory from estate purchases, with the store’s third floor filled with big-ticket items from large estate purchases.
“The slightest little thing you might look at thinks it’s just junk,” Cindy said. “I don’t like waste or throwing things away. My daughter jokes that I am a hoarder, but if I was a hoarder, I wouldn’t sell my stuff.”
Article by: Kat Jeanne, Enid News & Eagle 5.8.22
Photos by: Kat Jeanne