I t’s a common complaint: Items in big-box stores, from furniture to clothing, lack the quality of years past. In a race for low prices and consumer convenience, today’s major retailers generally opt for cheaper materials and substandard labor practices to pump out cheap, overly abundant goods.

Retailers like Stephanie Young, who owns Wanderstate Mercantile in Chamblee, want to change that.

“Using our hands to make things is very important,” Young says. “When you can connect with a person or a small company that is making the product, there’s definitely a lot more nostalgia and connectivity to us as humans.”

The vast majority of Wanderstate’s lifestyle goods are handcrafted. Most items come from within the United States, including locally made goods from metro Atlanta and Athens, bu

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