Wonderland Antiques and Curiosities — Local services in Helen

Decided with my family to visit this place on a whim during our trip to Helen, GA, this past weekend. The trouble is not with the items presented at this establishment, as much as it is the "management" themselves. There was hand sanitizer at the entrance, as well as mask requirement guidelines, and my entire family had masks on for COVID-19 safety. I instructed my family to use hand sanitizer, they all did, and then we were immediately greeted by someone whom I can only guess was the owner of this antique shop. She welcomed us, and seemed okay at first, giving us special information about everything in the store...after this point is where the problems began. My wife wanted to look at an amethyst pennant from the display case, really we were not anticipating to be shown the items by way of taking them out of the case, but the manager quickly overheard our conversation and rushed over to ask if we needed help. My wife was also eyeing an antique ring she thought was gorgeous, so the lady took it out for us. Didn't happen to be my wife's size (my wife has NORMAL sized hands for a female, but antique rings normally run smaller because people were smaller in stature 100 years ago). The manager of this establishment made SURE to address the sizing issue, saying "well...they're all about that size or smaller sorry". We just chalked that up to us taking things the wrong way...seemed a bit heavy handed but okay. The next thing is what made me decide to never visit this place again. I made my way into another room that had a colonial/victorian style bedroom suite, and I was seriously considering buying it. I tried to yell across the room at my wife, who has difficulty hearing due to a medical condition she has had since birth, and was then interrupted by the woman, who had not been in the room for a few minutes. Keep in mind that a few other patrons had made their way into her storeroom and were also browsing. It just happened that in order to yell across the room to my wife without sounding like I was underneath a pile of pillows with my surgical mask on, I had moved the mask BRIEFLY to my chin. I was not near anyone, and unfortunately, I did not move it back to cover my mouth fast enough. The manager/owner came right out on the floor, and verbatim said this: "EXCUSE ME....I SUPPOSE YOU HAVE LEARNED TO BREATHE THROUGH YOUR CHIN???" My wife immediately reminded me to put my mask up...I turned back to face this woman, taken aback by the audacity of her tone to a patron of her own store...if anything I was a bit confused...surely sometimes people forget things...but she went on ....IN FRONT OF OTHER GUESTS to berate me, saying "What...you didn't think I could see you? Look up!" ....I looked up, and saw a security camera she had obviously been watching me with...maybe she thought since I have tattoos, a nice car, and a half grown family, that I would steal something, but the next best thing was to patronize and try to embarrass me over something so trivial that she could easily chalk up to my not paying attention and making a human error on....a mask pulled down briefly. I played coy and said, "yes the bed is beautiful", to which she scoffed and didn't say a further word to us. So message to the person running this store: If you are the owner, have some dignity, at least more than you showed me. I'll tell everyone I know not to visit your store. It's one thing to pull aside a customer and remind them of a mask, but it's another thing to accuse them in front of others in public of purposefully trying to go around a mask mandate for your store. Keep the change, keep being rude. If you treat others like this, then you deserve...

If you'd like to be "slyly" followed when you come in, then go on in. 😂 Very awkward and uncomfortable in my opinion. I'm a very indecisive person and I like to take my time looking or inspecting an item. I prefer not to feel eyeballs on me even from across the room. I'm not here to do anything wrong, so I shouldn't feel hovered over/watched. It's just a very odd way to run a business, as if every person may be there to commit a crime/break something. I've been to many antique stores in GA, never had that kind of feeling. I'm there to browse in a relaxed manner and I wanted out as quick as I came in. It's a very small store to be acting this way, I'll add. I've been in 40,000 sq ft antique malls, nobody to be seen behind me, beside me. First time visit, last time visit. Maybe the good reviews came in on a busy day where they didn't feel singled out. Or they just enjoy the presence of another person in their direction. I hope the management can find a way to be a little more laid back or maybe they don't think it's that obvious. But it sure felt like it's the normal routine there, to keep an eye...

Read till the end for the best part..:As a marketer I was incredibly impressed with the merchandising of this store! Everything is very organized and very easily accessible, the flow of the store is art! Their mask policy was incredibly thoughtful and educational. We didn’t know that the county only had a 30% vaccination rate so it was a no brainer that using masks was helpful in keeping customers and the owner safe! I found some increíble Star Wars pins and a very cool Thor collective piece of art.

The best part: the store owner spent 20 minutes telling us the history and stories about the town, all the best places to visit while we are here and gave us an informational brochure. He was the nicest store owner I’ve ever met! And it wasn’t just for us, he did the same for a customer before us who had a birthday so he told her all the specific celebratory things to do for her day! Loved this place. Recommend it to all...