One of the best wedding presents I received came from my college town of Athens. Sold in an eclectic shop across the street from the college paper where I met my husband, the gift was, very fittingly, a picture frame made of newspaper.
It didn’t surprise me, though, that my friend found such a creative and personal gift in Athens. With about 90,000 residents during the school year, 30,000 of them students at the University of Georgia, this college town is chock-full of artists. Artworks in many media, handmade jewelry and unusual gifts such as leather journals, soaps and paper fill the square-mile downtown district.
Athens, which is about 60 miles east of Atlanta, has always been a college town, even before it had a name. The county in which it resides, Clarke, wasn’t established until 1801, but the university had been chartered, at least in name, in 1785. In 1801, 633 acres along the Oconee River were purchased from a local man and given to a board of trustees to manage. The trustees named the land Athens after the center of classical culture in Greece. Progress continued in Athens through the years, with the town responding to the university’s growth.
Most recently, there has been a great focus on historical preservation and promotion of the arts and culture in Athens, said Tim Brown, public relations and tourism manager for the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau. He said tourism expenditures increased 5.6 percent, from about $156 million in 1996 to about $161 million in 1997.
Frontier, the shop where the aforementioned wedding present was purchased, has expanded over the years to include not only organic and nature-friendly crafts and gifts, but also furniture. Beaded and silken picture frames, spirit lamps, handmade paper and keepsakes from South America are just a few of the wares at this Jackson Street store.
Manager and buyer Kenneth Kase said the store tries to feature local products. In fact, one of the store’s best sellers was created by a local artist who later bought the store.
His creation, Honeypots by Bee Natural, are hollowed-out pots made of decorated beeswax that glow when lit by a candle or light bulb. Shoppers get a price break if they buy the honey pot in Athens, which are sold around the world.
Other cool gift shops include Helix/Spiral on Clayton Street, which displays ceramic plates to serve sushi, carved metal lantern holders and 4-foot-tall decorative flowers. The new Heery’s Too!, which opened this fall on Clayton Street, features wonderful hostess gifts, baby gifts and home decorations.
But those aren’t the only surprises retailers hold.
There’s a stylish crowd to appease in Athens college students are hard to please. Many local clothiers carry the hottest styles sometimes brand names at reduced cost. With lower overhead to pay and “poor” college students to pull in, prices can be lower than their Atlanta and New York counterparts, say local store owners.
Stefanie Halperin, owner for eight years of Almanac on Broad Street, helped student Beth Kelley pick a little BCBG black rayon crepe dress recently.
Attending an awards dinner that night for university football players, the 20-year-old junior from Stone Mountain was caught in a fashion pinch.
“If I had longer, I would at least look in Atlanta,” she said. With the dress on sale, Kelley ended up paying almost half the suggested retail price, plus got very specific washing instructions from the store owner.
Halperin, who describes her store as value-oriented, said she has lots of clients from surrounding small towns, such as Snellville, Winder, Dacula and Gainesville.
“(I’m) the one (who) is going to have the hippest fashions from New York,” she said.
Up the street on College Avenue, McColly’s was offering silk cashmere sweaters for $54 to $69, depending on style, and a short suede jacket for $59.
On the other end of the spectrum, shoppers reap the benefits of many thrift and retro stores.
Not a frequent shopper, Charles Dasher, a 19-year-old sophomore from Birmingham, enjoys the variety at Uncle Albert’s vintage clothier on Jackson Street.
“There’s a great market for used clothes in Athens,” he said.
Shopping in a small town like Athens also means personal service.
“You’re going to get one-on-one attention that you’re not going to get in a large department store,” said Danna J. Lea, owner of Art of It All Jewelers Ltd. on Clayton Street. “You’re not going to be hustled in and hustled out. I’ll come in early and stay late.”
Lea, who designs much of the jewelry and etched glass in her store, says that not only will she custom-design jewelry, but she’ll also work with customers on payment plans which appeals to young couples planning to get married after graduation.
Besides great gifts, art, music, books and high fashion, shopping in Athens means one other thing. Don’t be surprised if the salesclerk (read college student) is trying on more clothes than you. On my recent visit, a clerk modeling a new outfit asked shoppers how she looked. We all had to agree, she looked good.
