People flock to this unique antique store that only sells progressive historical items.
An antique store by the name of Ye Olde Shoppe in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has been found to not carry a single racist product.
While many Americans won’t care, since it is acceptable for antique shops to have racist merchandise in this country, the anomaly of Ye Olde Shoppe is ground-breaking. This is the first time in American history where we’ve seen such a profound level of minority acceptance.
It all started when noted antique collector James C. Calhoun happened across the store when visiting his family in town.
“The store looked real quaint, like they sell expensive historical junk to wealthy white people. And since that means it can get away with racism, I felt like it was the place for me,” said Calhoun.
But after searching the store for over five hours, Calhoun noticed something was wrong. “I kept looking through the piles of old lamps, dilapidated furniture and other junk, and I came up with nothing,” he said. “It was awful.”
Calhoun expressed his discontentment with the owner, Jonathan B. Goodman, who gave an official statement. “We will not disclose whether the omission of offensive merchandise was intentional for fear of losing some of our patrons. However, we would like to point out that we would have no reason to do so, considering no one seems to care either way.”
Regardless of what the store says, many were shocked at the lack of memorabilia that has been demeaning to black Americans in the country for years. The coin banks, propaganda posters and products with racially stereotyping advertisements were nowhere to be found.
Sales at Ye Olde Shoppe have actually been helped by the news. Young people from around the country have been flocking to the shop to enjoy the experience of buying ancient objects without having to see a caricature of a Japanese person during made WWII.
The shop was also innocent of selling non-Native-made products that are used almost exclusively for tobacco consumption. Local antique enthusiast Bill Antler gave a comment on this lack of racial slurs. “I didn’t know it was bad,” said Antler.
A large group of antique enthusiasts have organized a boycott to attempt to offset the business boom at Ye Olde Shoppe. The reason? Some worry that with the lack of racism in just one or two successful antique stores, the entire industry may suddenly be discouraged to sell objects that offend minorities in a myriad of heinous ways.
Racism expert Earl Stanton commented on the issue and what it means for the industry. “At the end of the day, maybe it is just okay that people move on.”
Upon further inspection, a crowd of tourists accidentally knocked down a fake wall, revealing all the racist memorabilia from the store safely hidden away. Even in antique stores, some things just don’t get old.