Sasser turns into ‘junk-tiquing’ destination | PHOTO GALLERY

SASSER — Thanks to the growing popularity of anchor retailer Alice and Jay, downtown Sasser is seeing resurgence as a mecca for antique and craft hunters hailing from across south Georgia and beyond.

Long the picture of a sleepy Southern town, Sasser, with a population of less than 500 people, has slowly turned into a hot ticket weekend shopping destination for those on the prowl for unique items, such as antiques, homemade lamps, tables, furniture and other assorted crafts, and hard-to-find and one-of-a-kind items.

Each weekend, the small stretch of downtown Sasser storefronts comes alive as shopkeepers open their doors to visitors from across Georgia, Alabama and even as far away as Illinois. They’re in search of treasures while also enjoying a fun out-of-town adventure.

“Lee County and Albany, I’d say, probably account for 50 percent of our business,” said Jay Redmond, co-owner of Alice and Jay. “Really, though, we get people from Macon and Columbus, too.”

“We had two ladies that drove from Illinois,” added co-owner Alice Durham. “They saw it on Facebook and drove from Illinois. Then a week later, five more ladies that they knew came from Illinois.”

According to Terrell County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Gina Webb, Sasser’s growing reputation as a retail hub for folks who like hunting antiques, crafts and other assorted stuff — what she calls “junk-tiquing” — has been a long time in the works. Sasser has always boasted multiple stores dedicated to offering interesting and unique items from yesteryear.

Webb cites not only the multiple downtown stores, but also Sassy Britches restaurant, owned by Martha Moore, as part of the draw.

“All of Sasser has something unique,” said Webb. “People come for the experience. It’s the small-town, laid-back, Mayberry-type living (that attracts folks). People sort of make a day trip of going there.”

According to Jimmy Bridges, who was born in Sasser and owns Sasser Antiques, the town has long been known for its antique stores as many of the stores, including his, have been open in more than 20 years.

“I’ve been here 28 years,” Bridges said. “We don’t have much turnover here. There’s a few of us that have been here for a long time. Mary Jordan’s (owner of Village Antiques) been here 16 or 17 years and Mary Orvin’s been here 22 years.”

In fact, Orvin, who is originally from Hazlehurst, opened her antique store, Country Antiques and Collectibles, after first having a store in Albany.

Orvin said she moved to Albany in 1966 with her husband and after working at the A&P grocery store and then for an accounting firm. She decided to start her own business. She operated a store called the Old Trading Post on Slappey Boulevard for a number of years before moving to a building in Sasser, where her sister lived.

It is in space previously owned by Orvin’s sister that houses Alice and Jay, which speaks to the type of connection the different stores share.

“The whole town, everybody, offers something a little different which is nice,” Durham said. “There’s five of us and everybody has their own little niche.”

While each store might offer unique items, Alice and Jay has been able to differentiate itself thanks to the store’s focus on handmade merchandise, such as pieces of furniture and items that have been re-purposed into something new. One example: Lamps made out of old farm implements and other pieces of scrap.

“We’re different than the other antique stores here,” Redmond said. “That’s what really sets us apart, we make so much stuff; lamps, tables, mirrors. All the other stores have stayed what you would think of as kind of an old-town antique store type of thing. We take anything you can find and make something out of it.”

Despite the pair’s present reputation for handmade items, they originally opened their store as a more traditional antique store.

“When we started out, we were what you’d might say was a run-of-the-mill junk store,” Redmond said. “We would travel and we would come across a lot things that people around here didn’t normally come across. And I guess that’s really how we started getting a reputation and growing.”

Over time that growth led the pair to slightly alter the focus of the store, centering more on more on homemade items and utilizing their diverse talents to make something new and unique.

Redmond, who has a background in construction and remodeling, says he is usually able to see ideas that Durham comes up with and create that vision.

“I love building stuff and Alice is the creative person,” Redmond said. “She could see it and I could build it.”

When the pair are not busy creating new and interesting home decor and crafts they are typically on the hunt for new things they can “remake.” Lately, however, they have been hard at work opening a new store in Boston — Georgia, not Massachusetts — that they hope to have open this fall.

They are also planning to incorporate a vegetable market into the store, which will be located in the old downtown Boston post office.

In addition to the new store the pair has also recently started a new venture called Shindig. According to Durham, Shindig is a vintage rental business catering to people who want to rent items for use at parties, weddings and receptions.

“We just started the vintage rentals for parties and weddings,” she said. “It’s kind of a new thing. It’s available here but I have an entire building devoted to it in Boston. I’m about to set up a corner for it here. A lot of people are doing outdoor weddings, different sort of venues so we have farm tables, old china, things like that.”

As if trying to juggle their many activities wasn’t enough, the pair has also started planning for the holiday season, which is a busy one for the store.

To capitalize on the shopping season and draw even more customers the duo again lean on their creativity by having events at the store. Their most popular event — and the one that Durham gets most excited about — is the store’s annual Halloween party, where they sell seasonal decorations, including jack-o-lanterns made out of old propane tanks.

“Our Halloween open house has become a really big draw for us,” Durham said. “Last year, we did a redneck Halloween and this year we’re doing Witches Night Out. We have live music and activities, too. It’s like a party for our customers. It’s a lot of fun.”

With the kind of creativity and diversity Durham and Redmond display in their different endeavors it’s apparent why the store has become a popular destination for shoppers looking not only for antiques but one-of-a-kind items.

Despite their success, both are quick to point out that all the different stores in downtown Sasser have something to offer the public and that much of the town’s draw comes from the fact that there are multiple places to shop.

“Every store that’s here is an antique store,” said Redmond. “Everybody offers something different. It’s kind of a nice little Saturday destination for people.”