Photos Andy Calvert
It’s not often that shoppers can find HIGH-QUALITY ANTIQUE FURNITURE AND MODERN LUXURY GIFTS in one destination, but they need look no further than downtown Cartersville, Georgia. It’s About Time Boutique, a jewelry and luxury giftware boutique located in the heart of the city, offers a combination of antiques and modern giftware for every occasion. Owner and operator Dan Kramer opened It’s About Time in 2013, and the boutique later merged with Cartersville Antique Gallery, run by Robert Adams. The result is a stunning synthesis of old and new, vintage and modern.
“When we merged with the Cartersville Antique Gallery, our whole vision of our store came together — the best from the past meets today’s modern luxury,” Kramer says. “We have over 4,000 square feet packed with some of the most beautiful giftware items that you can find. We have all the finest antique furniture mixed with all the beautiful new modern giftware. It’s really been a combination that, since we set up in that area, has been phenomenally successful.”
Tried and True…
Kramer’s vision for It’s About Time has been in the making since he was a child. His father worked in the jewelry business for most of his life, and Kramer has fond memories of being in the jewelry store growing up. “It’s About Time is kind of a nod to my family’s long history in the jewelry business,” he says.
“We really wanted to recreate that neighborhood-style jewelry store that’s long since gone — a place where you could go and find quality gifts for any occasion, have great conversation, and be embraced by the historic charm that is lost in so many of these austere retail settings. We have a huge inventory of varying goods, but our mission really is to be downtown Cartersville’s premier jewelry, watch, and luxury giftware boutique.”
It’s About Time stocks over 800 watches from over a dozen different brands, as well as a mixture of jewelry and giftware brands. Shoppers may recognize popular brands such as Waterford Crystal, Brighton, Dancing Diamonds and Imperial Pearl, but it’s likely that they’ll find a wider variety within these brands than they might find elsewhere.
“We really try to pick unusual pieces that you’re not going to see at every other store,” Kramer explains. “We have a lot of higher-end giftware lines that you really can’t find in this area, especially in the selection that we have. If we have a brand, we’re always going to go deep into that brand so that we can best represent it, so that the customers know the whole story of the brand and not just a few pieces.”
Or Something New
Visitors to It’s About Time may also discover something new, like the unique Southern Gates Collection. “It’s designed in Charleston and inspired by the ironwork and the gates found throughout the South,” Kramer says. “Southern Gates Collection is a fine jewelry brand that evokes the history and charm of the South in a beautifully delicate and meaningful way.
We’ve created an entire Cartersville collection: pendants and earrings based on local churches, the courthouse, the state of Georgia, and other meaningful architectural pieces throughout the county. We created a lot of Cartersville-specific items so that people could purchase something and feel like they’re a part of the community.”
Kramer says that helping create these custom designs is some of the most fun he has in the business. He takes his ideas to a local graphic designer who helps him create a design to send to Southern Gates. “We get a local feel but with a highly professional finished product,” he says of the process.
A Local Legend
Locals and tourists alike will also appreciate the Cartersville Antique Gallery’s collection of pottery by W. J. Gordy, an artist who was born in Cartersville in 1910 and died in 1993. “We have by far the largest retail collection of his pottery,” Kramer says. “We have people from all over come to visit our Gordy pottery.”
The collection includes a variety of vases, mugs, pitchers and other kitchenware in colors ranging from subtle earth tones to vibrant blues. “The more that I dealt with it, the more that I fell in love with it,” Adams says of the pottery. “Over the years it’s been a wonderful inventory to have in the store because I’ve learned so much about Mr. Gordy and his legacy with his craft and his family here in Cartersville. His pottery is in the Smithsonian, it’s in the Atlanta History Museum and the Atlanta High Museum, so he’s really one of our local claims to fame.”
For Every Occasion
When It’s About Time and the Cartersville Antique Gallery merged into this larger space, they took on another service that has become quite popular with customers: wedding registries. “We carry such a wide array of great luxury wedding gifts, and gifts for weddings have always been a large part of our business, so when we moved into this larger space several years ago, we had so many people ask about registering that we thought that was the next great step.”
Couples can find an abundance of things they may need among the boutique’s collection of home goods and giftware, and their registry will be easily accessible on the boutique’s website. Friends and family can also shop registry gifts in the boutique, and It’s About Time even offers gift wrapping.
According to Kramer, out-of-town visitors are often surprised that his boutique exists in Cartersville, but in his eyes, there’s no better place for it. “Cartersville is a great community and people have great taste, so there’s no reason for them to have to travel outside of the area to find the best goods,” he explains. “Carrying great brands, we can cater to the people in the area as well as all of the people who are coming in to visit.”
