The Avenue Athens is one of many women-owned businesses in the Northeast Georgia region that combines interior design services with a storefront for gifting needs. Co-owned by interior designers Erin Gilmer and Brandy Martin, the storefront on North Milledge Avenue allows for ease of access and collaboration with the University of Georgia and Clarke County community.
Gilmer and Martin decided to open their brick-and-mortar business in 2021 due to the delays in delivery of pieces from factories to a customer, which was being caused by the pandemic. Opening their storefront allowed people to pick up lighting and furnishings when needed for a project instead of waiting.
“We are … full-service interior design, so we can do everything from building plans, floor plans, renovations to something as simple as a window treatment or reupholstering a chair, but we did open the store with it being a home decor gift boutique,” Gilmer said. “So we do offer a place for anyone to pop in and pick up a hostess gift, a birthday gift, a teacher’s gift.”
Their location next to two women-owned businesses, Wild Moon Studio and Ritual Day Spa, allows for easy collaboration and support. On a broader level, they are situated in a region with a number of women in business and related fields comparable to the state average.
Data published by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia shows that the average percentage of women in Northeast Georgia sits around 45 percent, versus a state range from 35 to 55 percent.
While boutiques that contain gifts and housewares are relatively common in the area, the combination with interior design makes this location different from the others. Having a one-stop shop for clothing and home goods a mile from the Downtown Athens area provides a unique shopping experience.
They also have seasonal projects, such as sorority bid day baskets in August, tailgate gifts during football season, and holiday-related items as they come up. This also includes seasonal design projects, specifically, lots of dorm room designs around the beginning of the school year.
Martin said helping families in these seasonal design or gifting ventures is one of the best parts of owning The Avenue.
“The parents that we might talk to on the phone when they're ordering a big day basket, and then when they come to move their child in, or when they come down for Parents’ Weekend, and they pop in and they thank us so much… It's nice to know that you do have an impact like that.”
Educating Future Interior Designers
Along with this venture, Gilmer and Martin recently began teaching a class in the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia. They were approached two years ago about teaching professional practices for interior design at the college and had their first students in the spring of 2024.
“It's basically focused on not the creative aspect or the drafting aspect, but the business side,” Gilmer said. “So creating contracts, how to onboard a client, and … create the design, but then also project manage the design and seeing it to completion, and how to place orders, how to make quote requests to your drapery workroom and your upholsterer.”
Gilmer said they want to equip students with everything they need to be successful not only as interior designers but also as potential business owners, ensuring that they would be capable of independently accepting and catering to clients.
From this class, they had at least one student who secured an internship and then a full-time job offer following graduation. Gilmer and Martin expressed their gratitude for the positive feedback from former students.
“That's just what we try to bring to them … some real world aspect to it, of the things we wish we knew before we graduated and, and so… I feel honored to be asked to do that. And we think … from their feedback that they enjoy it,” Gilmer said.
Collaboration in the Northeast Georgia Community
While Gilmer and Martin support students through their campus involvement, banding together with other local businesses is also very important to them. The business partners also value giving back to the community by donating their interior design services to local events, providing items for local raffles, and offering percentage nights for sororities on campus.
“We'll have events and invite businesses like Erin said, that don't necessarily have a brick-and-mortar, and they'll come and do a pop-up, and then they get exposure to our clientele,” Martin said.
Being situated in this area allows for lots of support and community for women who are currently or are considering becoming entrepreneurs.
Emma Humphries is a third-year journalism major at the University of Georgia.
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