Poe Studio Is Moving in July

On July 1 will have a new home.

The Avondale Point Business District shop that specializes in children's clothing and gifts will be relocating a couple of hundred feet up the street to 811 Savannah Highway.

"It's always nice to have a fresh slate," Poe owner Liz Whitworth said.

Whitworth found out about six weeks ago that her rent would be increasing at Poe's current location at 819 Savannah Highway. That left her scrambling to find a new spot for her store.

"This space is slightly bigger and it's cheaper," Whitworth said. "This spot was open and it was just good luck all around."

She has spent the past couple weeks cleaning and repainting the spot, it's last tenant was a tax office "straight out of the 70s," Whitworth said. Local artist Sarah Stewart is recreating the Poe Studio from the current shop on the outside wall of the new Poe Studio inside a building shared by other local businesses.

Whitworth has to be out of her current spot by July 1, and she plans to have the new store up and running during the first week of July, and she'll have a grand opening for the new store sometime after that.

"I'm just concentrating on getting everything moved now," she said.

Poe Studio will likely close down near the end of June to facilitate the move, and be closed for 1-2 weeks until the new shop opens.

Poe has been around since 2001 when Amanda Weld, the original owner, opened up in Avondale. After working there for a year Whitworth bought the business five years when Weld moved to San Francisco.

"I tok it over because I didn't want to see it close," she said.

The new Poe Studio will have a little bit more space, so Whitworth hopes to expand her inventory some. She will also have an office/storage space for the first time, and enough room for a dedicated changing room.

"I'll miss having the plaid building, but I'll find another way to help us standout," she said.

Store hours will remain Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.