7/7/2017 Update: I visited this store again this week just to see if my impression changed. I will say that the store is completely full, and it's nice to see a variety of items. The person working when I visited still wasn't overly friendly, but it was better than my visit a year ago. The location of this store is amazing, and they could truly capitalize on drawing customers in. I still didn't find an antique or collectible that tickled my fancy, but there were some unique items there. They had a phone booth that was absolutely amazing! I also appreciate that they are selling Lowcountry items (food and tea) for those who are visiting from out of town. That's a nice touch. All-in-all, I was much more impressed with this store this time than my visit a year ago.
Original review:
There are so many consignment/antique shops in town, and the competition is steep. Antiques & Artisans has two shops, and I'm equally unimpressed with both. Some of the booths have some cute things, but mostly, it is just more of the same of what I find in other shops at prices that aren't quite as competitive. I love shopping for the unique find; I'm just not finding it at either of the Antiques & Artisans Village shops in town.
One thing you'll note about me and my reviews is that I applaud good services and good businesses. Of my 274 reviews (as of 5/2/2017), 44 are 5 stars, 110 are 4 stars, 69 are 3 stars, 41 are 2 stars, and 10 are 1 stars. In other words, there is a pretty fair distribution of review ratings. You'll also note that I tend to write rather lengthy reviews when I feel the business warrants a longer review. In this case, the store simply did not appeal to me. I have other options in Summerville for the types of things that this stores sells. More importantly, shopping is more than merchandise for me. It is an experience. When that experience is less than stellar, I don't hesitate to say so. When I visited Antiques and Artisans, I walked through the entire store and was not once asked if I was looking for anything in particular. I was never thanked for visiting. In fact, the folks who were working there walked past me several times without saying a word.
I didn't write all of that in my first review because I thought maybe the business was having an off day. But, it's almost a year later, and the business has finally responded to my review. As you can see from the copy/past below from the owner, the comment wasn't rude, but it wasn't very nice either. If this is the type of experience that you want when you shop, this is the store for you. For me, there isn't enough in this store to cause me the headache and hassle of a disgruntled store owner. I guess I won't be visiting again to see if maybe the store was having an off day so that I could update my review.
Here was store owner's reply in case she decides to delete it:
Comment from Sherry M. of Antiques and Artisans Village
Business Owner
5/2/2017 She writes that there's nothing unique. Not another antique store in this town has a real telephone booth from a hotel in San Francisco, a 6-ft bird cage, a real fossilized dinosaur egg, a medieval lute.
We haven't been too involved in Yelp, and it appears that there are two reviews from people who don't know much about our store. Interestingly enough, the two negative reviews used very similar language. C'mon by and see for yourself! We continue to get such positive comments and loads and loads of repeat customers! read more
