Six-One Vintage Not Just Another Antique Store

Looking for furniture made of actual wood rather than multi-density fiberboard that won't cost you the equivalent of a semester's worth of tuition?

Six-One Vintage may have what you're looking for. The new shop at 1722 Ashley River Road specializes in used furniture not quite old enough to be considered antique.

"We've found that the vintage stuff is what we sell the most of," Owner April McCarty said.

Initially McCarty and her husband planned to include vintage furniture as well as clothes and other thrift store style items, but they quickly discovered they didn't really have enough space for the thrift side of the business.

"People shopping for thrift store items want the huge stores with the huge selection," she said. "We just don't have the room."

The limited floor space in Six-One Vintage has allowed the couple to focus on the furniture and home goods side of the business. The store also carries locally made organic soaps by the McCarty's Old Whaling Co. label and a few other "new" and repurposed items including refinished furniture and benches made from whiskey barrels.

Six-One Vintage opened in October 2012, and despite a slower than expected holiday season, McCarty remains hopeful that 2013 will be a good year for the fledgling business.

"I always wanted to have a vintage shop and Charleston seemed like the right opportunity," McCarty said. "There are a lot of thrift store and a lot of antique stores in Charleston, but not many of them focus on the vintage stuff."

McCarty said Six-One aims for the range between the high-end antiques stores lining lower King Street and heading out Savannah Highway and the low-priced thrift stores with varying quality of home furnishings or bargain priced mass-produced, assembly-required options available at big box stores.

"I think our generation, people in their 30s, don't have a need for the high-end antiques, but shopping at Walmart and Target gets kind of old," McCarty said.

Unlike thrift stores and consignment stores, Six-One doesn't often accept items brought into the store; McCarty prefers to scour yard sales and estate sales to select her merchandise. She also sells items on Etsy.com, where she's run an online store for more than a year selling the Old Whaling Co. soaps and other items similar to what is now available in person at Six-One Vintage. The store also has a Facebook page.

The store is open 10:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and noon - 6 p.m. on Saturdays.