Correction
This original version of this story misstated the number of followers the company has accrued on Facebook. The company has 6,000 Facebook followers.
Raymond and Alexis Locke recently moved to Chattanooga from Arizona, and they drive past this building frequently, going back-and-forth from their Gadd Road home.
It's what most Chattanoogans know as the Pet Care Warehouse building, tucked between the Hixson Pike Steak 'n' Shake and the Abba's House compound, smack in the heart of Hixson's commercial hub.
Only, Pet Care Warehouse is gone, having closed last year. And now this building is home to Vinterest Antiques, a new indoor craft and DIY mall owned and operated by husband-wife combo Paul and Katherine Schurer.
The Lockes stopped in Wednesday.
"We didn't think it was going to be this nice," said Raymond. "We've got some out-of-town people coming in this weekend, and we're going to bring them here."
It's been this way for Vinterest from the beginning, when the mall opened Jan. 3.
Even in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, the parking lot is full. Customers peruse aisles of repurposed and hand-crafted items inside.
In Vinterest's first three weeks in business, its Facebook page accrued over 6,000 followers. On a single Saturday in mid-January, the mall did $10,000 in sales. The Schurers' profits come from vendor rent and from their own small selection of items at the back of Vinterest.
But it's the great reward following great risk: the Schurers poured their personal savings into getting Vinterest up and running.
Katherine left a lucrative regional directorship with a big box toy retailer in October to pursue the dream of starting a small business. She and Paul founded a smaller antique and craft shop in Huntsville, Ala., prior to moving back to Chattanooga, where both have roots.
The couple opened Huntsville's University Pickers in January 2013, and while Katherine maintained her day job, Paul ran the shop. It was there the couple saw potential.
"We gained a lot of experience from that," said Katherine. "I knew the business model would work. The risk was going big."
Searching for an opportunity to go bigger, the Schurers sold University Pickers to friends and decided to pursue their vision for a larger, indoor antique and craft mall in Chattanooga.
After 18 years in the corporate world, Katherine called it quits to work alongside Paul full-time. She cashed out her 401(k) savings to finance the couple's venture.
"Every financial planner will tell you don't ever do that," she said.
But it allowed the Schurers to start Vinterest debt-free, beholden to nobody. The savings were gone, but opportunity lay ahead.
The couple knows first-hand how hard it is to break into retail when you're first starting out.
Katherine started in the business herself by renting booth space at indoor malls and selling the repurposed, hand-crafted stuff she and Paul would rescue from estate sales, junk bins and refuse piles.
The Schurers have been pickers for years. Katherine journeys home to Hendersonville, Tenn., every week to spend time with her ailing mother, and she has good picking spots picked out along the journey.
The Schurers charge a flat rent to Vinterest vendors. For $225 a month, their renters get an 8-by-10-foot blank slate to make their own and set up.
Booth operators don't have to present to sell. Some only come in once a week and restock. In the meantime, Vinterst staff (Katherine, Paul and a niece and nephew right now) will straighten up booths, restock products and keep everything neat and tidy.
Wednesday afternoon, Paul circled the booths with an aerosol can of scented disinfectant, hitting spots here and there.
All of Vinterest's 100-plus booths are now spoken for. Some vendors have doubled up and are renting 8-by-20-foot booths.
"We don't take commission from our people," Katherine said. "We just charge you a flat rent, and we hope that they make as much money as possible."
Vinterest vendors are not required to have a business license.
Vendors Michael and Cherie Lucero love the set up. The couple has lived all over the globe and by some chance wound up in Chattanooga, buying a home on Signal Mountain, site unseen.
They have been on board at Vinterest since the first day, selling a little bit of everything at their booth: mid-century Danish furniture, a phone booth light, a Garfield telephone, an Iron Man action figure, among others.
"It's been an incredible experience, definitely," said Michael.
The couple's young husky puppy, Anima, even came along to hang out and lounged in a shopping cart.
Within three hours of putting a pair of old chairs out, the Luceros sold them -- just when Michael was content with the booth's looks.
Oh well.
"It happens a lot here," said Micheal. "Things don't last."
Vinterest will celebrate a re-grand opening on Feb. 7, and all items will be marked down 10 percent.
Come summer, the Schurers are hoping to utilize the open, grassy area adjacent to their building for a farmer's market.
It keeps to the couple's idea of "giving the little man a place to sell," said Paul.
They see it as a type of ministry, a way to give back -- teaching men and women to fish.
It's Pinterest meets vintage, meets people.
"I quit a 45-hour-a-week job to work 80 [hours a week], and I couldn't be happier," said Katherine.
Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfreepress.com.