Norwich — A stuffed black bear greets you as you enter the driveway at Hancin’s Norwich Jewelry & Antiques at 221 W. Thames St. and things get stranger from there.

Three stone mermaids adorn the front steps to the log cabin building. To the left is a water tank on wagon wheels with a large anchor leaning on it. Bicycles hang from the front porch above several decorative metal garden gates, garden trellises. Lanterns hang everywhere, inside and out.

As you reach for the door handle to enter, a hand-written “for sale” sign might catch your eyes.

“For Sale: Building $395,995. Contents $100,000.”

Dennis and Linda Hancin have tried to retire and close their labor of love before but this time, they say, they mean it. Nine years ago, the Hancins closed the three-story log cabin building Dennis built in 1988, now crammed from top to bottom with antiques that range in date from 1540 — a treasure chest — to the mid-20th century and tried to find someone to take over the shop.

Their two daughters, Cheryl Hancin Preston, now Norwich's recreation director, and Tonya McDermott of Tolland, were not interested, so the store remained shuttered while the Hancins continued to work their portions of several group antique shops throughout the region.

In mid-October, the couple decided to reopen the log cabin store from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays only until Christmas Eve and to try to sell the whole package, building and/or contents. Signs throughout the building say everything is 50 percent off the marked prices.

“We made a good living at it,” Linda Hancin, 68, said recently. But as they approach their 50th wedding anniversary in March 7 and after she suffered a heart attack last year, their doctor told them it’s time to slow down. They plan to continue working their spots in local antique stores, and Dennis, 69, will continue his artwork. He has won awards for sculptures and makes seashell jewelry and other items.

The decision to reopen has been greeted with delight from past fans and customers to curiosity seekers wondering what happened to the store on the hill.

“I had been out of town, and my daughter said: ‘That place you liked is open again,’” customer Robin Meek of Norwich said in between taking cellphone photos of items that caught her eye. “It’s got things in here you don’t see anywhere else. And don’t forget to look up.”

An assortment of lanterns, chandeliers, tools, toys and gadgets of all kinds hang from the overhead beams and sit atop high shelves.

During this visit, Meek marveled at a breadbox-sized wooden box containing a Christian cross, a holy shrine, communion plate and holy water.

“It’s a traveling minister’s kit,” Linda Hancin explained.

The store aisles are barely wide enough to traverse without knocking into items on both sides and above. Items are not displayed by any category. A brightly colored Mickey Mouse phone sits in front of a collection of decorative classic chinaware.

On one small table sits a giant, ornate flowery wash bowl. Inside it is a hardcover copy of “The Warren Report: The Official Report on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy.”

“It’s a treasure hunt,” Linda Hancin said of a shopping experience at their store.

The collection was amassed in a variety of ways. The Hancins used to attend estate sales and make house calls to family homes when people were ready to downsize or clear stuff out. Many people would bring unique items directly to them. They stopped buying items about four months ago — “It’s been killing me,” Linda Hancin admitted.

At the start, Linda Hancin’s main interest was jewelry, and Dennis’ was coins. Now, jewelry cases are at the left side of the main floor, and the coin display is at the checkout counter. “It’s more antiques than jewelry now,” Linda said. Most of the store contents are from New England and about a 100-mile radius of Norwich.

For customers, the buying experience might be like Meek’s wanderings. But some customers take the direct approach, the Hancins said.

Recently, one buyer came in looking for anything owls. He bought four of varying sizes. Another wanted cuckoo clocks and bought six. Another wanted construction kits and went home with three erector sets.

“We’ve got a little of everything,” Dennis Hancin said. “We didn’t specialize in anything.”

Barbara Ricketts, clerk and archivist at Central Baptist Church in Norwich does the decorating at the church for special events. She went to Hancin’s one afternoon looking for something she could use to set up Advent candles at the church.

“The place has been closed for so long,” she said. “I was waiting for it to reopen.”

c.bessette@theday.com