Christian Pitts’ Store will welcome you home.
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE RED ROOSTER
When Christian Pitts was a little girl in Mississippi, she loved to play with the treadle on her grandmother’s sewing machine. “I’ve still got that sewing machine to this day,” she says. That sentimental possession from childhood was Pitts’ first dive into collecting antiques, and she’s since made it a central part of her life as the owner of the Red Rooster Antiques & Salvage in Jane Lew.
Pitts and her husband moved to West Virginia from the South in 2009 for his job in oil and gas, and, at first, she was content repurposing and upcycling used furniture simply as a hobby. She thought she’d put some favorite pieces up for sale just to see what happened. But it soon became clear that demand for these well-loved items was high, and she’d need to expand. A couple locations later, her cozy antiques shop on Main Street has a slew of dedicated regulars, and her inventory keeps things interesting.
Pitts gets most of her stock from people who are downsizing, going through a move, or dealing with divorce and need to shed some things. She wants anything interesting that she doesn’t already have, and customers know to go to her because she’ll treat them right, she says. Her shelves are lined with almost every trinket you could imagine—but every once in a while a truly unique item comes through her doors. “I had an original chastity belt come in,” she says with a laugh, remembering some of her favorites. “Then I had an antique wooden ice box that was absolutely gorgeous, from way back during Prohibition. It had the two containers hidden inside where they could store liquor.”
A visit to the Red Rooster is about more than the treasures you might find—it’s about the experience. Pitts welcomes anyone who sets foot in her door with her trademark Southern hospitality, and she wants you to feel like you’re right at home. She’s eager to work with customers, whether that means helping down-on-their-luck families find something they need for an affordable price or watching someone create a fun new memory from a quirky find. It’s all about the connection and the face she sees as they walk out the door. “You just don’t get that reaction from somebody when you go into a box store and shop for stuff that is mass-produced.”
6011 Main Street, Jane Lew, 304.884.6990, @Red Rooster Antiques & Salvage on FB
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