U G White Mercantile — Local services in Athens

Bigots work here. I was excited to take my family members into this store, as I knew they’d appreciate the old charm. My adult son is immuno-compromised, and as such he wears a mask everywhere he goes. His partner also wears one so they don’t get sick and give it to him. When we got into the store we split up. Unknown to me at the time time, the store staff was overheard talking about them saying things like ... you don’t wear a mask because you’re smart.” They were also treated so poorly being stared at like they were subhumans. I wish I had known it at that time or I would have left without making my purchase. I noticed the typically friendly staff wasn’t making eye contact or being friendly with me as they had done in the past. Even the kid at the register was being combative when I corrected him that the price on the bag was cheaper than what it rang up as. I calmly and politely explained to him that it’s illegal to charge someone a higher price than what it’s marked, and when he argued with me I told him that they should fix it immediately because they could get sued for that. A manager lady came over and fixed it (an older lady with white hair.) By that time my son and partner had already left the store because they were shunned and made to feel uncomfortable.

This was Saturday, August 19th in the early afternoon. I'm leaving this review because I genuinely hope that the owner of the store reads it and cares enough about their business to reprimand these employees and the white-haired lady who was obviously in charge. Because money is money and you shouldn’t treat customers that way. Literally perpetuating negative stereotypes about ignorant Southerners, and embarrassing yourselves. So if you don’t economically survive, I won’t be surprised, because maybe other people have been treated this way too and they won’t be coming back either. Life is too short for bigots to thrive, and it’s unchristian of...

Wow! I wished I knew about this little gem before! Any time of day any time of year this Is one of those places that never gets old no matter what season it i.. there areall types of stuff in here, I don't think you wouldn't be able to see everything they have if you spent all day here.Now I understand why it's called a general store It is so old timey and so unique I think this may be my favorite place in downtown Athens highly recommend go check it out it's an amazing place!! And the coffee and treat...

UG Whites claims to be a hardware store, but its more of a massive southern activity factory for the whole family, woth hard-to-find items such as rare candy, model trains, and more. The atmosphere remimds me, at least, of a combination of a log cabin and my grandmother's house. The employees are nice, as always, and the prices could be better, but for what you find, it's barely an issue. Overall, 9/10, will go again, probably as a part of the...