Avondale Estates, GA — Finders Keepers in Avondale Estates will merge with the store’s Decatur boutique location and create Finders Keepers Women’s Consignment Store effective July 27.

The original Finders Keepers was known as Fashions, and it has been part of the community since 1984. Owner Lee Ann Harris expected that to continue when she purchased Fashions in 2020.

The store is located at 84 N. Avondale Road. The property was owned by the city, but has been sold to the Avondale Estates Downtown Development Authority. The property will be the home of a hotel and town home development located next to the Town Green.

“Since I first told you about the property being sold for the DDA project, I have been actively and tirelessly looking to find a new home for Fashions but have been unable to do so,” Harris said in a Facebook post. “As our deadline is approaching, we have had to make the very difficult decision to close the doors of Fashions located in Avondale Estates.”

The Avondale Estates City Commission, at its May 11 meeting, approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Downtown Development Authority to transfer city-owned property to the DDA to facilitate the redevelopment of properties in line with the city’s downtown master plan. This includes developing a hotel near the Town Green.

At the city commission work session on April 27 the city presented plans for the commercial development of the Town Green, the boutique hotel and an 11-unit town home development.

The DDA will secure certain portions of 90 N. Avondale Road to consolidate it with Edwin Jarvis and Finder’s Keepers Fashions and 4 Lake Street. These pieces of properties are located next to the Town Green. A retail project with a full-service hotel with 80-82 rooms, a rooftop event space, ground floor retail and a wrap-around public parking deck is planned for the area.

The parking deck will have 185 spaces and be behind the town homes and hotel, so it won’t be visible from North Avondale Road. Most of the spaces in the four-story parking deck will be reserved for public use to meet the demands of visitors to the park and businesses. A limited number of spaces will be dedicated to the town homes and hotel.

“All of us have formed great bonds and relationships with incredible women (and men) that have taught us more than we could ever have imagined,” Harris wrote in the post. “But the greatest lesson I’ve learned is that together we are resilient, we are strong and we have transformed lives, mine included.”

The last day to accept consignment at Fashions is Wednesday, July 20.

“As we work to merge our locations together, we will only be accepting items at Fashions that will be transferred to our soon-to-be renovated Finders Keepers Women’s Consignment Store (located only three miles away at 2134 N. Decatur Road in Decatur, GA). These items will start their 90-day consignment period at the time they are placed onto the sales floor, which will be approximately July 1, 2022,” Harris said.

As the staff work through the closing process, all inventory received before June 1 will remain and be placed on sale.

“In addition, Finders Keepers Boutique carried a line of men’s clothing and accessories,” Harris said. “As of today, June 1st, we are no longer accepting menswear, and it will be discontinued. These items will be moved over to Finders Keepers Fashions in Avondale on Monday, June 6th and will be placed on sale at that location.”

Consignors can stop by the store, call or email the staff at any time to pick up payouts. After the Avondale store closes, all balances will be available for pickup or use at the Finders Keepers Furnishings store on East College Avenue and the new women’s consignment store.

Shopping will continue to operate as usual during the closing sale.

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