Top Five Atlanta Antique Shops
By Alexa Cucopulos
1. Paris on Ponce
While you may not be able to afford much in this store, I highly recommend visiting just for the experience. Paris on Ponce’s huge venue is filled with a myriad of different rooms, each one thrusting you into a different vintage realm. They’ve got everything from Victorian-era clothing to '60s mod furniture, taxidermy raccoons to headless mannequins. They even provide a party venue that looks like it came straight from a David Lynch film: an entirely red room furnished with burlesque mannequins, fauteuil chairs and grand pianos.This place is great if you feel like investing a bit of cash into an artful antique or simply if you feel like walking around and having a surreal experience. Bring someone with you who you want to get to know better! There are some great conversation starters in here.
716 Ponce De Leon Place. (404) 249-9965. parisonponce.com.2. Kudzu Antiques
Industrial, retro, funky — you name it, Kudzu’s got it! This is a great shop to pick up some original artwork for reasonable prices, as well as unique furniture pieces for decorating an apartment or dorm room. The “Zu” is conducive to browsing, especially with their endless selection of old books, vintage records and niche collectibles.Come here to find the physical embodiment of the eccentric: everything from cow cheeseboards to giant domino lights (And Bradford Cox is rumored to be a big fan!)
2928 E Ponce De Leon Ave., Decatur. (404) 373-6498. kudzuantiques.com.3. Last Chance Thrift Store
Although it’s known as a thrift store, Last Chance has some useful and affordable antiques, especially from the '90s. If you’re looking for some kitschy items to use as embellishments to your apartment, this market has a huge selection of old television sets, record players and other outdated technology.The seemingly mundane thrift shop also gets unintentionally surreal with its weirder antique selection for the more daring shoppers: dismembered mannequin parts, mutilated figurines and unsettling animal sculptures to name a few. Go on a day when you have some time to kill be-cause you may have to do some digging!
2935 N Decatur Rd., Decatur. (404) 296-1711. lastchancethriftstore.com.4. Highland Row Antiques
With its multifarious collection of knickknacks both big and small, Highland has any desultory object one could ever need: $5 wigs, old china dolls and light-up bar signs. This place has such a cross-section of items ideal for movie directors and set designers. It is the WalMart of the antique world, if you will.
628 North Highland Ave. (404) 815-8830. highlandrowantiques.com.5. 14th Street Antiques Market
Although this particular market may be rather inaccessible to col-lege students in its high prices and museum-like atmosphere, it’s still worth taking a gander. 14th Street has some of the most refined and elegant antiques in all of Atlanta, provided by some of the best dealers in the area. The woodwork, detail-ing and custom finishes on many of these pieces are truly awe-inspiring.I would recommend dressing in your finest khakis and visiting with family to get some interior design ideas and examine a myriad of rare European collectibles.
530 14th St. (404) 325-4600. 14thstreetantiques.com.