the shirt factory

I’ve been to this amazing place twice now in the last two years and came away this time even more impressed than on my first visit.Take an old shirt factory building, rehab it, divide it into rentable spaces, and then fill it with artisans of all types who work and sell their creations there. It apparently is a pattern for success as more and more artisans have moved in since it first opened maybe ten years ago. It is also known as The Shirt Factory Arts and Healing Center since you can even find acupuncture, a holistic healing center, aromatherapy, and even a Kung Fu academy along with the quilts, teas, hand-made clothing, a hair salon, an art gallery, a frame shop, and numerous other boutiques. They advertise that they currently have more than 80 artists and 10 retail shops. They even offer different types of classes in fiber arts, fitness, painting and pottery. I just can’t cover everything here that is on all three floors. Did I mention the violin maker?You need to check their web page for business hours because they vary by artisan. http://shirtfactorygf.com/ But most all of them are open some time on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. They also hold Open House several times during the year.During our most recent visit we purchased some Himalayan Pink Salt! There were even salt block lamps at this artisan’s shop.

So nice to see a beautiful old building put to such good use! I found the awesome quilt shop I was looking for and then found and amazing tea shop, an aromatherapy shop and a couple beautiful galleries! So much more to see ... I'm going back for their holiday open house Thanksgiving weekend. Can't wait! Heard it's the biggest ever!

The building is the old Troy Shirt Guild where hundreds of ladies in the pre WWII days ( and shortly thereafter manufactured men's dress shirt for all the big men's fashion houses. Today the building is part retail, part atelier, part artists colony and lots of things in between. There are year round shops for teas, jewelry, art, photography, a massage, quilting etc. Several times a year there is an open house and the vendors go all out to open their shops, studios and craft areas to the general public. Its a great place to find unique and one of a kind art objects, crafts and gifts.Most of the vendors serve cookies and beverages during the open house. You can certainly shop there all week long...but the open houses are the most fun.

My daughter and I thought we would find some tea and we did!! We had wish we could spend some time at a little table there and drink our tea but no table only a chair! I hope they add a little nice tasting area we took our tea and new tea pot home and enjoyed ! we will go back great selection of teas !