In 1980, Bubba Morgan and one of his business associates had an opportunity to open a home décor and furnishing store in either Shreveport, Louisiana, or Chattanooga, so they flipped a coin to decide who would receive which store.
According to Morgan, it was the best coin flip he ever lost.
“We flipped a coin and I lost the toss, so I got the store in Chattanooga on Dodds Avenue that we’d just bought,” says Morgan, the founder and owner of Southeastern Salvage, now located on Lee Highway.
Forty years later, Southeastern Salvage features just under 10,000 items among 10 locations in six states, with an eleventh store slated to open in Greenville, South Carolina, this year.
When Southeastern Salvage first opened its doors on Dodds Avenue, the store was primarily purchasing house sidings, doors, and similar items from closeouts and auctions. The storefront later moved to its enormous 126,000 square-foot space on Lee Highway, which allowed Morgan to significantly broaden product offerings.