When I first came to Atlanta to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), I was always looking for places to hang out. I went online to find places I could shop that weren’t just Forever 21 or H&M in Atlantic Station, and Little Five Points was one of the first places I found in a Reddit forum for “Hippie places in ATL.”
When visiting Little Five Points, you see a lot of styles and personalities that you wouldn’t usually see in other places in urban Atlanta. Groups dressed in emo punk with 1970s-style mohawks, bohemian-styled women with copper-wrapped crystal necklaces, and musicians playing in the center of the street. As I walked around, tote bag on my shoulder, I saw a few people who looked like me.
As I searched, I realized that Little Five Points is a place where you have to dig beneath the surface. Just across the street from The Vortex Bar & Grill is a store called Bear and Honey Candle Co. (bearandhoneycandle.com), a Black-owned and family-operated candle shop with various types of candles made of beeswax, soy wax and coconut wax.
Bear and Honey has been in Little Five for the past four years, starting during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. I spoke to people around the area and found Kayle Lewis, who was happy to share her feelings about the shop.
“My family is very natural and whenever I go into Bear and Honey, I feel like I’m walking into my aunt’s house rather than a business, which I love,” Lewis said.
Lewis said she loves places like Little Five because they make her feel at home.
“It makes me feel normal for being a Black woman and having alternative styles and not being stared at for it,” Lewis said. “Everyone has their own style and lives going on, so no one is in your business.”
Lewis said another one of her favorite shops was Vintage Mama (vintagemamaatl.com), located in the Bazaar – a corner in Little Five Points that houses multiple boutiques and services within the area. Vintage Mama specializes in rare and unique vintage and throwback styles for women and men.
“I’m in love with vintage items and the owner is so sweet,” Lewis said. “I feel like I’m given the space to look and walk around without someone breathing over my shoulder.”
This story is from a special collaboration between SCAD and Rough Draft Atlanta. To read more stories from SCAD students, visit our SCAD x Rough Draft hub.
The owner of Vintage Mama, Pecco Costen, has been a part of the antique and vintage community for over 30 years and in Little Five Points since 2018.
“I started back in 2018,” Costen said during an interview on Vintage Mama’s TikTok. “It’ll be six years here in Little Five Points. I do a lot of shopping when I go out of town, when I’m traveling. I just try to find nice, quality pieces.”
After visiting Vintage Mama, I started looking for other places in the Bazaar that had the same eclectic energy. One patron, Josiah Kinslow, told me to go to Pop Basel Gallery (popbasel.com).
“Pop Basel is a cool store,” he said. “I’ve had a rug made by the owner there and it’s very well-made.”
Kinslow said he loves Little Five Points in part because of the sense of community between stores.
“There’s no sense of competition or animosity between stores,” he said. “Especially that guy’s store [Pop Basel Gallery], because of how inclusive he is.”
Pop Basel Gallery is owned by William Floyd, and has been located in the Bazaar for the last two years. Pop Basel has tufted rugs and upcycled clothing made by Floyd, as well as crochet pieces created by an artist out of Detroit.
“A main reason why I decided to create a space is to open up the community, but also somewhat of a haven for creatives to kind of come to hang out and get information, network, and just know that they have a place,” Floyd said.
Floyd said he considers the business community in Little Five Points to be a diverse one.
“When talking about Black versus white-owned businesses and Little Five Points, as far as just the overall community, I think it’s fairly diverse,” he said. “You know, when it comes to the mix of people and even the surrounding area, it’s very diverse as well. I think depending on the days to come, you’re gonna see different crowds of people.”
So, if you’re looking for somewhere to shop locally in Atlanta, Little Five Points is the place to be.