ANTIQUE ROW'S FAMILY FEELING.

Byline: Carol Bidwell Daily News Staff Writer

In front of one store, baskets of green houseplants snuggle up against a white-painted wicker table. Down the block, a brass bedstead leans against another storefront. Scooter, the scruffy pooch who's the block's unofficial mascot, lounges in the doorway of the shop run by his owner.

This is Sherman Way in Canoga Park, for 30 years better-known to neighbors and longtime customers as Antique Row.

Except for the cars parked out front, sometimes it seems time's forgotten this westerly stretch of the Valley's widest and oldest boulevard.

The street comes to life slowly each morning, as if stretching and yawning its way into a new day. Doors are unlocked about 11 a.m. - or maybe noon. Nobody here punches a time clock.

Storekeepers check in with each other almost daily, relaxing on new city-installed metal benches to swap warnings about would-be con artists, trade phone numbers of customers looking for that perfect piece, offer each other cups of coffee.

The men and women who struggle to make a living here are part of each others' lives, at least from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. When someone has a new grandchild, everybody celebrates. When one store is damaged, other shopkeepers offer to help make repairs or provide storage space. When a store owner dies - as has happened twice in the past 18 months - everybody mourns.

``It's got this small-town feel in this huge cesspool of a city,'' said Jenifer Ringgold, who sells furniture at Alan Beutler's Old Friends antique shop. ``It's kinda like a family. We all sort of take care of each other, on some level.''

Hugh Burton, who runs Courtyard Antiques around the corner on Alabama Avenue, is usually the last to lock up, and he routinely checks on his neighbors' shops before he heads home.

``Last week, one of the dealers left a $200 painting out on the sidewalk. I picked it up and took it home with me. I took it in to him the next day and asked if he wanted to buy some art,'' Burton said with a grin. ``We all look after each other.''

The friendliness of the shopkeepers is the best thing about that stretch of Sherman Way, between Alabama Avenue and Remmet Street, say customers who've shopped here for decades.

``I can remember coming here in the late '50s, early '60s,'' said Joan Ireland, who wandered into Lynn Cherney's shop a few months ago - and the two quickly became friends. ``And I still come because I feel good just walking through places like this. It cheers me up.''

Peter Ng of Woodland Hills and his wife, Pauline, are also Antique Row regulars. Just strolling down the street is relaxing, even if they don't buy a thing, he said.

``We used to come every weekend until a lot of the dealers moved out,'' Ng said. ``But it's coming back. It's an area people can really enjoy.''

The area is far from upscale. But the opening last fall of the new Madrid Theatre, a performing arts venue in the next block that replaced an X-rated movie theater, was part of the city's attempt to lure a wealthier class of people to the area. It's too early to tell whether it's working, but shopkeepers say they've noticed a few more browsers.

There are no video arcades here, no chi-chi coffee bars. Only old farm implements, decades-old jewelry, fine china, dog-eared books and ornate furniture once prized for its newness but now bearing the patina of age.

Although the dealers are in business to make a buck, there is no cutthroat strip-mall mentality here.

``I don't consider that we're in competition with each other,'' said Burton. ``We complement each other. When somebody comes shopping here, we all benefit.''

His life companion, Shirley Jean Ippolito, for 15 years co-owner of Sadie's Antiques, convinced Burton to open his own business two years ago. The feisty redhead, a Valley girl from birth, had been the heart of the Row until last summer, when she suddenly fell ill.

Diagnosed with lymphatic cancer, she was hospitalized four days later and died Oct. 24, leaving the dealers who were her friends without a cheerleader, a rabble rouser, a point woman.

Ippolito, who lived just around the corner on Remmet Street, was always the first to unlock her door in the morning, sweeping the sidewalk and watering the shade trees before customers came calling.

``We just couldn't believe she was gone,'' said Pat Needham, who's run Now & Then Antiques for nearly two decades. ``She was a mainstay on this block.''

The death a year and a half ago of Claudia Wodarz sent a similar shock wave rippling through the block. She'd run her shop for a dozen years or more when she, too, was diagnosed with cancer. After her death, husband Jerry took over the store, with Scooter to keep him company.

Despite the deaths of the two veteran dealers, the sense of neighborliness is still there. And now, there's even a sense of renewal in the old neighborhood.

Along with new trees and benches are new antique-looking streetlights, each one bearing a different cut-out logo suggesting the shops' merchandise. More people park and stroll from shop to shop, whiling away an afternoon.

The revitalized neighborhood has attracted new shops, including an antique mall in the next block, next door to the new theater.

``The neighborhood's perking up,'' said Bill Mayo, manager of Affordale Antiques, which offers items owned by a dozen or more dealers. Owner Aram Kartalian recently closed a similar store on Topanga Canyon Boulevard and consolidated his operations on Sherman Way.

``We figured we could get more foot traffic here because of the theater and the other antiques stores,'' Mayo said. ``And we have, particularly on Saturday, when the theater has matinees. People go to the theater, then they come in here, all dressed up.''

Shawn Vielma opened Angel Heart in late January, selling fresh flowers, fine furniture and jewelry under a pouffy ceiling created with an open silk parachute.

``My mother and I ran a flower shop in New Mexico, so I knew about flowers,'' Vielma said. ``I didn't know a lot about antiques, but I knew I liked them, so I thought, why not put the two together. Since I've moved in, Hugh has helped me out a lot with repairs. And Pat next door gives me advice on antiques. I feel comfortable here.''

Needham, one of the old-timers on the Row, is happy to see the city finally take an interest in the street, happy to see more customers walk through her door.

``I realize I'll probably never be rich doing this, but I love it,'' she said. ``When you're an independent store, you get to know your customers - some by their first name, not like being in the malls.''

``It's the personal touch,'' agreed Stan Goldman, owner of Old Friends Antiques. ``We have customers who have been coming in forever. They came in as kids, in strollers, with their parents. Now they're married and have a family and their own homes. And they say, `Remember me ...?' And you know what? We do.''

Where do you hang out?

Within this big city, one of the nation's most geographically spread out and demographically diverse, thrive little neighborhoods that still can give you that small-town feeling of community.

Where are your secret retreats? Where do you go to re-establish your connection to your community?

If you know a place that makes the Valley feel just like home, share it with your neighbors. Write to us at: L.A. Life, Neighborhoods, Daily News, P.O. Box 4200, Woodland Hills, Calif. 91365-4200. You also can fax us at [phone], or e-mail us at dnlalalifeaol.com.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos, Map, Box

Photo: (1--Color) A chair catches the eye of Juanita Wigglesworth in front of Zulia's Antiques on Sherman Way in Canoga Park.

(2--Color) Courtyard Antiques owner Hugh Burton, holding S.J., makes a point of checking whether everything is OK with his neighbors when he closes up for the night.

(3--Color) Jerry Wodarz runs Claudia's, named for his wife, who died a year and a half ago.

(4--Color) A pine Welsh dresser from the 1850s holds a set of Delft canisters on the top shelf, with Staffordshire-style jugs, lower left, and a Blue Willow tea set at Zulia's.

Photos by Tina Gerson

Map: Antique Row

Box: Where do you hang out? (See text)