The Savvy Picker travels around the Southeast looking for vintage merchandise to stock her brick-and-mortar and online shops. This fall, she visited the North Georgia Mountains where she stopped in at Dana’s Antiques. Keep reading to check out her hauls and pick up a few tricks of the trade.
The Savvy Picker was invited to stop in at Dana’s Antiques by Dana herself after Dana read one of her articles. (Having been raised in the South, The Savvy Picker rarely turns down a polite invitation.) So, the very next time she traveled to North Georgia, she plugged Dana’s Antiques into her GPS and headed over to Warehouse Drive, where there are a number of industrial buildings, including the one Dana’s Antiques is housed in, which used to be an Auto repair shop.
Loaded with vintage treasures
The building might seem atypical of an antique store on the outside, but inside, it is loaded with vintage and antique treasures!
In addition to just about any type of glassware a collector could desire, Dana’s Antiques offers a wide range of other merchandise, including clothing, jewelry, art, and many other types of collectibles.
One thing I enjoyed about the shop was the clever ways some of these collections were displayed, like the way these antique salt cellars are grouped together in perfectly-sized cubbies.
If you visit Dana’s Antiques, make sure to go upstairs, where you’ll find some nice furniture pieces, but also CHRISTMAS decorations. When I was there, these were half-price. Later I happened to notice on Dana’s Facebook page that Christmas items are always half-price! I was thrilled to find three boxes of vintage glass ornaments for just a few dollars each, as well as a few other vintage decorations.
Keep an eye out for sales
If you visit this shop, make sure to look for the whiteboard near the register where you’ll see sales listed. I didn’t notice this until I was checking out, but then I saw that books were only $1.00 each, so I put the checkout process on hold, and ran to the back of the store.
In the end, I scored two boxes worth of great books, all of which I will sell for 4 to 25 times my $1.00 investment!
Although I loved the books, I think my favorite finds were the art pieces I discovered. None of them were priced, but when I asked about them, Dana sold me these three etchings for $5 each.
One way to tell whether a work of art is a real etching is to look at the paper for the impression of a plate, usually this will be a rectangular or square shape encompassing the image. The three pictured here all had the intention and are all real, hand-colored etchings, not prints. While they would have commanded a higher price online, they sold quickly in my shop for $20 each.
I also purchased a very lovely, brightly colored oil painting in an antique frame for $10. I just loved this painting; it was my favorite thing… and yet, I forgot to get a great photo of it, and since it sold for $65 the day after I put it in my shop, I missed the chance. But you can see the edge of it here peeking around some other finds from my latest trip to Georgia, and I think you’ll be able to tell what a great find it was just from the edge.
TSP Takeaway
Thanks, Dana, for reaching out to me. I sure enjoyed looking around your shop! If any other readers out there would like a visit from The Savvy Picker, just leave a comment beneath this article on the Facebook Page, and next time I visit the North Georgia mountains, I’ll try to drop in!
For those wishing to visit Dana’s Antiques, you’ll find her shop at 127 Warehouse Drive in Cleveland, Georgia.
For directions, hours, and more information, visit the shop’s Facebook page.
Who should visit: Collectors and resellers alike!
Score of the day: Hmm. The books were a great deal, but I think I’ll go with the art.
Predicted profit on art: $100
Re-seller takeaway: If something you like doesn’t have a price tag on it, don’t walk away. It is often worth it to ask for a price!
For more great reads and finds, click here. For additional tips on tracking vintage treasures, visit The Savvy Picker website.
