Shops jam into gallery

After 14 years in Chattanooga’s Southside, Judy Klemm is moving around the corner for a new endeavor.

Klemm, who spent those years selling gifts and baby items from her shop — Sweet P’s — within The Galleries at Southside, wasn’t ready to leave the area when the shop’s owner announced it would shut its doors in August.

So she started trying to find a space where she could recreate the atmosphere she’d grown accustomed to.

“I just kept coming back to this place,” said Klemm, standing inside her 2,900-square-foot shop — The Galleries on Williams Street. “And it just worked out. It all fell into place.”

The shop is holding an opening today and on Oct. 10 will host a grand opening with door prizes and refreshments.

With more than a dozen vendors selling everything from handmade baby blankets and custom scented candles to antique furniture, the mall-style shop is similar to the former Galleries at Southside, which had been on Cowart Street. Most of the vendors at the new Williams Street shop sold their items around the corner at the Cowart Street site before it closed.

Klemm said she plans to host special nighttime events, such as a girl’s night or jewelry night, to make the shopping experience unique for her customers. Though her shop is much smaller than the former location, she said she’s done all she can to use every bit of available space — including the restroom.

Across from the toilet sits a basket filled with pillows, shelves holding scented candles and special light fixtures that are all for sale. She said she couldn’t turn down the last couple of vendors who asked for space.

“I told them, ‘The only space I have is the bathroom and a wall,’ and they said, ‘We’ll take it,’” Klemm said. “I’ve utilized everything.”

Jan Colvard, owner of Where The Heart Is, said she likes the freedom that comes along with not having to be on a store floor every day, leaving that responsibility up to Klemm.

“We only have to come in and fluff our booth once or twice a week and don’t have to be here all the time,” Colvard said.

Colvard, who was at The Galleries at Southside for about seven years, said she is happy to stay in the same area because of the “good mixture of customers in Chattanooga.”

Tricia Stevens, owner of Two Pearls, described the new shop, accented by fresh coats of white and pale green paint, as warm and inviting. She thinks it will fit in well with the surrounding shops in the Southside.

“It feels like home when you walk in,” she said. “I automatically liked it the minute I walked in the door.”