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HISTORY OF THE BRASELTON BROS. STORE... The store in which the Braselton Antique Mall is located celebrated its 100th year in 2004!  The actual Braselton Bros. Store started in 1887 when eight-year-old John Oliver, the third son of Harrison and Susan Hosch Braselton started selling things to his father's field hands. His first inventory amounted to $3.50 in value, which included a few cans of food, snuff, and rock candy. His mother provided fruit jars, which he used to display the items. The first physical structure looked like an outhouse but continued to grow as the business grew and John Oliver convinced his brothers Green and Henry to join him in the mercantile business.
Enthralled by the business ingenuity of their father and the teachings of their mother to treat all people in the kindliest manner possible, the boy's reputation and business grew. The Braselton brothers who had started their one room 6 x 6 feet venture with only a few dollars now had a handsome brick structure* in 1904. With the prettiest storefront in northeast Georgia, the store had the most modern conveniences. The location was one of the most desirable in north Georgia only one mile north of Hoschton, and the railroad was a main form of transportation. The structure would be at the junction of four public roads making it a prime location.  The superintendent for building the magnificent store was S.B. Baker. He and his crew completed the new 60 x 90 feet brick store using good workmanship of which none surpassed. The work was complete in just five months. The walls of the store stood 14 feet high and the storefront had solid plate glass windows. Iron columns adorn the windows and storefront made by the Winder Foundry and Machine Works. The main floors contain three departments. The first was built for dry goods, notions and shoes and measured 30 x 60 feet. The second section was a model for beauty and artistic design being 20 x 60 feet for clothing and millinery. The third department exhibited groceries of every desire in 30 x 36 feet. Two offices, one of which was private, were centrally located in the store.
The latest lighting fixtures, just like the ones used in fancier city stores, were purchased to make the store light up through the day and evening. The fixture required acetylene gas and required 730 candles making the store the brightest nighttime event in the area. A basement measuring 30 x 60 feet would be used for heavy groceries. It too was lighted with acetylene gas. Deliveries were made to the docks at the basement door and brought into the basement for storage until needed on the main floor. Six to eight sales clerks worked for the mercantile. Only one person handled the majority of money. The clerks would place the customer's receipt and money into a small box attached to rails on the ceiling beams. A spring mechanism was pulled back and a trigger released the box, which traveled to the main cash register. The receipt was checked and if the customer was due change, it was sent back by the box in the same manner. One brother would travel to New York once or twice each year for merchandise. Another brother would travel to other eastern markets and they would of course adhered to their father's advice and pay with cash. The three "Bs", as they were affectionately known were considered to be fine entrepreneurs and the business grew. The sons carried on the retail tradition for years, but the grandchildren sought other careers and new developments in malls brought an end to the business after 103 years of business. |  |
