Shows like American Pickers, Antiques Roadshow, Pawn Stars, and others have people wanting to get in on the hunt for antique and vintage treasures. And why not? There are plenty of great places in Northeast Georgia loaded with loot and ripe for the pickin’.
The Savvy Picker is going to walk us through a few of them while offering tricks of the trade and sharing her finds.
First up, Meaders Mercantile and Antiques in Cleveland, Georgia.
Tucked away treasures
From the moment you step into Meaders Mercantile and Antiques you are greeted with cute, innovative displays chock-full of reasonably priced merchandise like this wine rack tower housing rolling pins, and antique rake heads hung with red-handled kitchen tools and whisk brooms.
Meaders offers a bevy of collections like cute retro salt and pepper shakers that have regained popularity in recent years, but also has lots of other treasures tucked away.
For my re-sale business, I look for classic items that are ever popular like Blue Willow Dishes and I found a pile of them in one of the booths! I picked up the lot of 37 dishes for $50. Since these items generally sell in my area for $8 – $12 apiece, this was a great buy for me.
I also picked up a couple of wooden animal carvings. These always sell for me in my brick-and-mortar store, especially cats! Another item I can’t seem to keep in stock is brass bells, so I was happy to find a little apple-shaped one. If you go to Meaders, make sure to check out the store from end to end. You won’t want to miss the famous Meaders pottery!
Who should visit: Folks who like a variety of items at reasonable prices!
Score of the day: Lots of Blue Willow
Predicted profit: $200 on Blue Willow
Re-seller takeaway: Figure out which items (like Blue Willow, Cats, and Bells) always sell for you and try to keep them in stock.
Meaders Mercantile & Antiques is located at 2047 Helen Hwy. in Cleveland, GA. It’s open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 1-5 p.m. on Sundays.
Visit The Savvy Picker website for more tips on tracking vintage treasure.
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Habersham County was the author’s home away from home when she was a student at UGA in the 1980s. Though she now lives and operates a vintage business in Beaufort, South Carolina, she loves returning to the North Georgia mountains to visit friends and, of course, to shop!
