MIC: Buy Local at Ringgold Store

By: Latricia Thomas 

We have a different spin on our "Made In" series. We're going inside Tillie Towne in Ringgold, a store where you can buy some of the products we've featured that are made locally.

When you walk in the door at Tillie Towne, there's one label that's even more important to customers than the price tag. Every item can bear a "Made in America" tag.

Everything that owner Jeannette Fox sells is made somewhere in the United States, with many items created even closer to home. She carries local honey, Lodge Cast Iron Cookware, even sheep milk soap from Tunnel Hill, Georgia. Fox says her customers really support her cause. "We've heard everything from 'I've never heard of that, or isn't that great,' so they are very, very pleased."

With the economy in a slump, Jeannette wanted to help more than just her bottom line. "We were feeling very bad about what was happening in our area, in our country" Fox says. "We thought why don't we do something that's all 'Made in America' because that's going to help preserve jobs for people." She started perusing products made from one US coast to the other, and soon found homemade handiwork from just down the road, stories she passes on to her customers. "When people come in here they rather get an education of some sort."

Two doors down, Farm to Fork feeds off that same "made Local" concept in what both businesses call the perfect locale. "We are in a small town, but they appreciate the 'Made in America' theme and making it from scratch," says Chef Joseph Black. "The reason we came is they do seem to appreciate those kind of things."

"I've had a lot of thank you," Fox says. "Thank you for doing this."

To visit Tillie Towne's website, click here.