By MyKala Guerrero
Cove Leader-Press
One of the newest installments to the heart of downtown Copperas Cove offers shoppers a unique opportunity to buy both vintage and antique items as well as new products with a nostalgic feel of days gone by.
Granny’s Attic, located in the former Ledger Furniture building, features furniture, memorabilia, and collectibles in addition to hosting a General Store and a multi-vendor marketplace.
Since opening its doors in June, the local business has seen success not only among fellow Covites but has drawn hobbyists and collectors from other corners of Texas to find items that can’t purchased through big retailers in the modern era.
“We have so many different products in here, from tallow stuff that (local vendor) Naomi does; we have our General Store up front that has all kinds of food (and) old-fashioned candies and all that stuff you can’t find everywhere else,” said store owner Dustin Wilhite.
“We’re trying to make it a destination for Copperas Cove downtown because it needs it. It needs revitalization. It needs people.”
In addition to housing the goods of 21 local vendors, Wilhite also received a grant of over $2,000 from the Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC) which helped reimburse a portion of the cost of new signage and a mural on the building which served to beautify downtown, adding another attractive feature to a high traffic area.
“I knew they had a grant process to improve stores, and since we were just opening up, I didn’t know what the grant entailed. I went down there (to the CCEDC), and (they) told me what to do and what it entailed. I was putting signs and stuff up on the building anyway, and so I put in for the grant to help. They helped me pay for half the signs up front, so I thought that was awesome.” Wilhite said. “It’s all online for the CCEDC. You just go online and fill it all out and it’s very self-explanatory. And if you have questions, they’re very good about answering everything down there. All the people that work down there are very nice and very kind.”
Many new surprises awaited Wilhite through this venture due to the store-type and the diversity of customers it would bring in.
“I didn’t think I would like all this kind of stuff, but I grew up around antiques. My grandparents had the Belton big old two-story house and had all that stuff in their house, and I enjoyed all of it. I never thought I was going to be doing something like this,” he said.
Eventually he said he sold some property had some money, but his realtor advised him notto buy a house.
“I didn’t buy anything and kept praying about it. One day I was walking in front of the store and the name Granny’s Attic came to my mind and I’m like, okay, that’s what I’m doing,” Wilhite said. “That was in March and we were open by June 6th. I’ve been in business for myself since I was 13 and I’ve had two businesses downtown before. This is my hometown and when I had (the businesses) 20 years ago, I was really trying to make it look better downtown (then) too… We’re touching everything we can to try to draw people down here.”
The turnout has been surprising and changes from day to day according to Wilhite.
“We’ve had a lot of young people that come into the store, which makes all of us happy and we don’t know what people are going to buy. We think we’ve got it kind of figured out and nope, it changes from day to day to day. (An item sells) and a young person bought it because it reminded them of their grandmother’s house and I think that’s great. I think that’s the way it should be and that’s the way all of this kind of stuff will stay alive for generations. I go walk in the store all the time and say ‘my mom had that, and my grandmother had that’ and I haven’t thought about it for years but once it hits, it hits a memory back that will bring back all these good emotions and feelings, and that makes the story even better.”
Granny’s Attic invites the community to come shop, reminisce, and have a good time.
Granny’s Attic is located at 112 E Avenue D and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.