Downtown Macon Options Expand With New Business Opening: 7th Street Salvage
I was one lucky girl tonight. I got an exclusive, invite-only pass to check out the latest soon-to-be hot spot in Middle Georgia. I know this because their social media lights up with questions on every post asking when they are going to open.
It’s 7th Street Salvage, and they are on 7th street but perhaps you don’t exactly know where that is? The easiest way to explain it is head towards Luther Williams Field- it’ll be just to your right hand side as you go under the railroad overpass.
For me, it’s like a paradise found. I’m renovating a historic home and saw sooooooo many things I can use in my house- yay! Jackpot! I love the idea of being able to take raw items that aren’t perfectly polished from some suburban store, but instead are taken from historic properties and set for reuse.
But I was curious, what were the reasons that owners Brent & Catherine Meyer’s reasons for doing this? And how did they pick the space? And I wondered a few other things. So, read on for their answers!
Why are y’all doing this? What’s your goal?
We decided to open 7th Street Salvage because we believe “old things have soul”. We have renovated our own late 1800’s home, support preservation, appreciate craftsmanship, and want to support our local community.
Our goal is to bring a quality architectural salvage business to this region. We want to support other local small businesses, creating a web of connections, and eventually be an architectural salvage destination for people throughout the South.
How did you pick this space? What local partners were needed to make it happen?
Long story short, 7th Street Salvage fell into our lap accidentally. While we were doing this on a small scale, we did not have a goal to open a large architectural salvage business. However, an opportunity to purchase the old Second Chance presented itself and we took the leap! The 10,000 sq ft building had gone into disrepair, with a collapsed roof, structural issues, and lots of dirt. For the past 18 months, we’ve been renovating on nights and weekends (as we still have other full time jobs and 3 kids). Also during this time we have more than doubled the original inventory. We are finally are ready to open our doors!
The support of the local community has been great. One South bank supported us financially, community partners including our county commissioner, other governmental employees, and our neighbors in the historic industrial railroad district have helped us work through the issues of bringing an old building back to life. The support of the public and our future customers has been overwhelming!
What’s your address and what will your hours be?
Our address is: 230 7th Street, Macon, Ga. Currently we will be open 2-3 weekends per month. Please check Facebook, Instagram, or our website for our open days and hours!
Let’s say I come in with a general idea for a project… but I’m kind of lost. How can you help me?
We can help in many ways! First, we have a designer on staff, plus a lot of experience in home renovation. We have skills in upcycling, designing, and using architectural salvage in new ways! Because we don’t do manufacturing on site, we are building a team of referral tradespeople.
It’s five years later… where is the store now? Has it grown, do you have other locations? What have you done for the community?
In 5 years we will be larger, and hopefully branching out into different business models including rentals and manufacturing. We’d like to be a “destination” retail space, meaning customers will drive from all over to shop with us. While they are here, they will eat local, stay in Macon, tour our city and discover what a great place Macon is to visit! We want to help shine a spotlight on our great little city.
This is one thing that I love about Middle Georgia- people are always wanting to give back with their time and their businesses. And… I know all y’all will reward them by visiting them for all of your renovation and project needs!
There’s more than just the big items like columns for porches (which I do need) but also tile and milk jugs and items to make creative planters and alllll kinds of items and ideas.
For someone like me, who grew up with parents doing home reno work way before it was cool, this was exciting to see. I know y’all are going to love it, and them, too.
Love to all y’all,
Molly
