In 2017, Brent and Catherine Meyer had the opportunity to buy a big warehouse in Macon, Georgia filled with salvage pieces. Three years later, they have a revamped architectural salvage warehouse, a home décor store, plus an original candle line and a custom woodshop.
7th Street Salvage began as a side gig, while they were both working other jobs. Between 2017 and 2018, they worked to revamp their entire warehouse location, finding they really loved what they were doing and took it on full time. While taking down homes, searching through people’s attics and crawl spaces, and uncovering junk treasures, they managed to procure 400,000 pieces of inventory.
They started to really take off. First, opening their warehouse to customers who wanted architectural salvage pieces for their homes, they eventually started holding markets where they invited makers to show off their wares. Everything from artisans, food vendors, craftsmen, they wanted to promote vendors that stayed true to their roots.
In the spring of 2019, they launched a candle line. After spending six months doing research on candles and accumulating the perfect scents to release, they began selling candles named after things that are important to their store- such as whiskey barrel and front porch swing with such signature scents! And to add on to all the signature elements, the lids are made of scrap wood from houses they salvaged from.
When Covid-19 hit earlier this year, it threw quite the wrench in things. In March Brent and Catherine sat down with their staff saying they weren’t sure what was going to happen. Five days later, it looked like they were going to need to shut down for a little bit. Five days after that, it looked like they were going to furlough some people.
But there was no stopping them from working as hard as they could to stay open. They began showcasing pieces on their social media, posting how customers could shop at home. They hosted Facebook online markets highlighting fifteen to twenty items. They expanded their shipping from 20-30 items a month to about 300 a week. In the past six months, they’ve shipped to every state except for two.
With mask requirements, a strict store capacity, and appointment-only visits to the architectural salvage warehouse, they’ve now successfully, and safely, brought back their entire staff and have opened their doors for customers to shop in-store. “We are humbled and grateful for our customers, They have been a huge backbone for us through this whole pandemic,” Brent said. They’ve continuously worked to keep their customers, staff, and families happy and healthy.