If you go
› What: Bettieville Swap Night› Where: 804 Chickamauga Ave, Rossville, Ga.› When: 6-8 p.m. on the last Thursday of the month› Information: 706-419-8343 or https://www.facebook.com/bettieville› What: Children’s Orchard› Where: 291 Paul Huff Parkway NW, Cleveland, Tenn.› Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m Monday-Friday; 10 a.m-5 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday.› Information: 423-472-3595 or www.childrensorchard.com/stores/cleveland-tn
The stretch of Chickamauga Avenue in Rossville, Ga., seems an unlikely draw for fashionistas – bail bondsmen, muffler repair shops, used car lots, thrift stores, tattoo parlors and wig shops – then the eye drifts across a vintage stove colored the deep pink of cherry blossoms; it’s sitting curbside next to an antique school desks – all are for sale.
And behind them sits an explosion of color named Bettieville that’s located, as it says on the front window, in “RossVegas, Georgia.”
One window is painted over with a Roy Lichtenstein-style mural of a bosomy ponytailed blonde kissing a handsome Romeo wearing a black shirt and scarlet blazer. The Bride of Frankenstein is painted on the opposite window. Silky curtains in violet, chartreuse, tangerine and jade flutter in between and a cow skull covered in fake jewels glitters on the window sill. Next to the door, a sky blue toilet has the word “Butts” painted on the open lid with an arrow pointing to the sand-filled bowl that serves as an ashtray for cigarettes.
But the women who stream in the door at 6 p.m. head directly toward Bettieville owner Andie Sellars, who is rolling empty clothes racks toward them. It’s the last Thursday of the month and that means it’s Clothing Swap Night, a retail adventure in which shoppers bring clothes and- hopefully – leave with new ones.