Thrift Store Shopping in North Georgia
I love thrift shopping! North Georgia has lots of little side-of-the-road shops.
For retro decor, old-time gadgets, and curiosities, here are a few Southern Muse picks. Most have no web site...
Junkman's Son, Dalton, GA.
Medium-sized warehouse, off the beaten path. Junkman's son is a favorite for vintage store displays and vending machines, intriquing gadgets of the industrial kind. There are several heavy old safes, old industrial cookers, retro kitchen ware and diner dishes, and unidentified cast-iron fittings and lots more. 701 South Hamilton Street, Dalton, Georgia 30722. CONTACT & MORE ABOUT...
Terri's Antique Mall, Rocky Face, GA.
Nice, though small. Not really a "mall," but it is divided into booths. Fun to browse. I once had a booth at this shop. Terri has a huge assortment of whatnots, knick-knacks and gem-cracks, of the vintage, antique and retro variety. Her particular specialty is old kitchen utensils and antique glass Christmas ornaments. She also sells vintage chenille bedspreads, china, vintage costume jewelry, and Coca-Cola collectibles. There are a few Confederate bills and Civil War artifacts at the front counter. Small shop with two rooms. Located at Rocky Face (north of Dalton, Georgia) on Ringgold Road, north of Highway 41 and I-75 intersection. The store mascot is Terri's pet parrot, who talks and plays "peek-a-boo" with patrons. Located at 2636 B, Chattanooga Road, Rocky Face, GA. 706-259-9856. Last visited about Dec. 2007.
Providence, Dalton, Georgia.
Thrift shop run by Providence Ministries. Medium-to-large store on South Hamilton Street. They have used clothing, china and bric-a-brac, and some furniture (usually not great quality). Prices are reasonable and you can sometimes find some nice surprises among the thrift, especially if you pay attention to the times that they put out new items. One annoying thing about Providence is their habit of marking item prices with permanent markers. It can be removed from glazed china using hairspray or rubbing alcohol, but ruins many unglazed pieces and leaches into the cracks of old china pieces. Last visited about Jan. 2007.
Salvation Army Store
North Thornton Avenue (used to be Old Chattanooga Road) in North Dalton, near the hospital. Two medium-sized rooms. Check with staff to see if they'll let you know when they'll be putting out new merchandise. Most of the stuff in this one is junk, but you can pick around and find a nice trinket now and then. They have several racks of old clothes, some for everyday wear and others for costume-making. I have never found a decent piece of costume jewelry or a glass bead at this one ~ just useless, cheap junk. You might find a retro belt or two, or an occasional book among the Gideon Bibles... Last visited about Dec. 2007
Fairmount Flea Market, Chatsworth, GA.
Not really a flea market. Indoor thrift store, adjacent to Shop-Rite, Hwy. 411, Chatsworth, a favorite of locals. Jam-packed with overstock, mostly hardware, home furnishings, and mis-printed or seconds of office-supply paper stock. Pricing so-so ~ would like better bargains. Some nice-looking vases, trash cans, and knick-knacks (similar to Big Lots). Miscellaneous kitchen utensils (new, not used). Lots of rope, string, and useful gizmos. Hardware. Tools (some okay, but many are made-in-Taiwan clinkers, so check 'em carefully). Some useless junk mixed in. They have some plastic clamps that I love for when I'm gluing crafts, and some good, heavy-duty metal clamps. Fun to poke around in. Last visited Feb. 2008.
Antique Mall, East Ridge, TN.
East Ridge is just across the Georgia state line in Tennessee (Exit 1 and 1A). Exit and head toward the part where all the stores and gas stations are located. The antique mall is a strip mall (or mini-mall) with several entrances. Once inside, try to stroll the length of it. Vintage and retro knick-knacks are packed like sardines, shelf after shelf of them. You're bound to find some bit of nostalgia from your youth (or your grandma's youth). Vintage and antique toys, hats, clothing, china, vintage paper, ephemera ~ nearly anything you can name. Prepare to spend a couple of hours, if not half a day. Plenty of fast-food restaurants (and maybe a Cracker Barrel or home-cooking place nearby). Within a stone's throw of Chattanooga. Last visited about Dec. 2006.
Knitting Mill Antiques, Chattanooga, TN.
Nice antique mall, featuring 100 individual dealers. Antiques, collectibles, vintage and retro memorabilia. Fun to stroll around in, and housed in the same building with Riverside Food Works Restaurant. Located at: 205 Manufacturers Road, Chattanooga, TN 37405. Phone:
(423)-267-1922. Last visited about Jan. 2008.
By the way, while you're there: make time for a meal at Riverside Food Works... Yum! I was pleasantly surprised and sufficiently stuffed when I ate there! Out-of-the-ordinary fare, on the nicer side of "casual" dining. Recommended appetizer: sweet potato chips with bleu cheese dip.
Antique Mall, Rome, GA.
Medium to large. Located in an old Mill on Broad St. Divided by booths, several rooms upstairs and down. Lots of antique and vintage bric-a-brac, china, linens, and furnishings, plus some flea-market items. Lots of fun browsing, and is bigger than it looks ~ it may take an hour or so to browse everything. No air conditioning in summer.
Pat's Antiques, Chatsworth, GA.
Furniture, knick-knacks, collectibles, and vintage costume jewelry. Small local store, also has an upstairs area with more stuff. They don't keep regular hours, so it might help to call first. I've had luck catching them early in the morning. They also sell local history books (Whitfield-Murray Historical Society publications) and generally support the historical society. Located at 105 E. Market Street, Chatsworth, Georgia (downtown square, katy-corner from the NE corner of the courthouse, just off of Highway 411). Phone: 706-695-9808. Last visited about Dec. 2007.
Cave Spring, GA.
I can't do a run-down of each store in Cave Spring, but this little town is laid out around a square, and the square is lined with small antique shops and restaurants. There's a chocolate shop, too. Each little shop has its own specialty for collectors and lovers of vintage or retro decor. Nothing that'll really raise your eyebrows, but folks in surrounding towns travel over there to eat "country cooking" at the local mom-and-pop restaurant, and then stroll around the square looking in shops. Cave Springs has a small vocational school that works in conjunction with North Georgia high schools' programs for the learning disabled. I have never visited the cave, but you can tour it and drink from the limestone spring, the town's main tourist attraction. They also have some wonderful historic homes and a restored Presbyterian church, built about 1867. Cave Spring is a tiny town, middle of nowhere, not too far from Rome, Georgia. Last visited Dec. 2006.
Big Lots (various locations).
Big Lots has new overstock, home decor, dry goods, housewares, hardware, garden supplies, and a sampling of cookies, olives, and miscellaneous canned goods. There's one on Walnut Avenue in Dalton, Georgia (Kroger Shopping Center). Fort Oglethorpe has one on Highway 27, before you get to Lane Funeral Home. (If you're in the Fort Oglethorpe area and you're into Civil War museums, you might want to ferret out some of their local historical landmarks. You could head up 27 North to Rossville, where you can look at the historic John Ross home (Cherokee history). Chickamauga's a short drive from there. Recommend alt. 27 (slow but scenic, goes through the park).
Chickamauga, Georgia (historic downtown).
Chickamauga's main attraction is the battlefield, of course: Chickamauga National Military Park (Civil War history), on Alternate Highway 27. Chickamauga, the site of the biggest, bloodiest battle of the Civil War, is now home to the nation's largest national military park. After you tour the park, turn off of Highway 27 into historic downtown Chickamauga and look around at some of the local shops. Several nice little antique shops and a cafe or two line the main square.
The Big Chicken, Marietta, GA.
Okay, you caught me. The Big Chicken is not a thrift store, just a local landmark, a unique and funny-looking KFC, and a place to grab a bite of KFC fried chicken. I mention it because, if you're spending the day trekking through Georgia, it's worth stopping there to see the building (yep, shaped like a big chicken). Watch its beak move and its eyes roll around. Browse the mini-museum of Colonel Sanders memorabilia. Also, you can buy a wooden "Big Chicken" Christmas ornament there. As of 2006, the ornament was less than five bucks and came in a cool KFC Popcorn Chicken box! How to get there? Goodness, all directions in Marietta start at the Big Chicken. (I'm serious ~ ask any local). Located at 1970 N. Cobb Parkway, Marietta, GA.
Other Georgia towns with good shops are Dahlonega (mountain town, gold-rush history; many nice little shops on the main square). Blue Ridge (historic downtown area, has a great lot of little art galleries, shops, cafes, and the like; I'm not sure if it's seasonal). Calhoun, GA (I-75 exit 315) has an antique mall, 10,000 square feet (no review on that one as yet). Helen, a fakey-fake little alpine village, but worth a day trip. Nice drive through the mountains. May be seasonal, so check that out first. Blairsville (or nearabouts there)... I've stopped in several good little shops on the drive between Blairsville and Young Harris, on the way to Young Harris College. (Last visited a couple of years ago, not sure how current this is). Tennessee, in or near Chattanooga: My favorite day trip in Chattanooga is Frazier Avenue. On nice days, you can visit the aquarium and/or Hunter Museum of Art, then walk the pedestrian bridge across the Tennessee River to Frazier Avenue. Knock yourself out in the fun shops, cafes and galleries. My favorites are In-Town Gallery, (local artists) and Blue Skies (a fun shop for reproductions of vintage nostalgic pieces and retro stuff). There's a good gourmet ice cream shop and a good used-book store. On the bottom level is a great cafe for salads. On cold-weather days, you might want to drive there. Get on Georgia Avenue and cross Veteran's Bridge, turning left onto Frazier Avenue as soon as you cross the bridge. If you walked, though, and aren't too tired after you cross back over the bridge to the aquarium side, then hop back over to High Street (where the Hunter and Houston Museums are located). There's a good coffee and dessert cafe on High Street. I can't tell you the name of it, but it's across from the Houston Glass Museum, in that general vicinity. Another town, Jasper, Tennessee (off I-24 north of Chattanooga), did have a nice store or two on the main square (last visited several years ago, need to check that info). Also up past there in Sewanee, Tennessee, is University of the South. There used to be a nice little Christmas shop on the corner of the main drive there (a Google Search produced a map showing "The Hospitality Shop" on University Avenue, so that's probably the shop I remember). Gatlinburg, Tennessee (in the Smokey Mountains) is a tourist draw for locals in the surrounding region. They go up for a weekend and shop, shop, shop. Several nice, mountain drives and historic sites are in that area, too.
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