Most stores are pretty easy to define.
If the aisles are full of groceries, you’re probably in a grocery store. If they sell shoes, it’s a shoe store.
Chattanooga’s Verre Noir, on the other hand, is a lot harder to define.
They sell books, but it’s not just a bookstore. They sell plants, but they’re so much more than a plant shop. You can find preserved insects, but they aren’t a… bug shop?
“We do have a mix of things,” laughed Becca Coleman, owner of Verre Noir, as we debated the best way to define her new shop at 36 Frazier Avenue. “Our byline is dark arts, plants, and apothecary. And we carry things that kinda go with those items.”
So maybe what unifies Verre Noir has less to do with any one kind of product, and more to do with their aesthetic – which has been described as dark, haunted, and even witchy. “It’s like a dark academia plant shop. We sell things with darker themes in books, art, oddities and entomology.’
Coleman moved to Chattanooga nine years ago, and shortly thereafter opened a cut-flower farm on Signal Mountain. Verre Noir’s Frazier Avenue storefront opened six months ago, and represents her newest business venture in the city.
“Some of the flowers we sell in the shop are propagated on that farm,” she explained. “But some of them are bought from local vendors who pop in with a basket full of plants. But we buy most of our plants from Florida.”
In addition to their regular daily operations, Verre Noir also hosts special events like pop-up concerts and their monthly Night Market festivals.
“We do the Night Markets on the last Friday of every month, except for December when we’ll have one the Friday before Christmas. We try to find vendors who fit with the vibe of the store like art, tarot card readers, astrologers, vintage clothes, jewelry makers, food and drinks… it’s an eclectic mix!”
The most recent night market had to be rescheduled due to weather from Hurricane Helene and will take place on Saturday October 5th from 7-10pm. It will feature nearly 30 vendors, both inside the shop and in the neighboring Chalk Alley.
On Friday October 4th Verre Noir will host the second in a series of pop-up concerts from Quiet City. The show will begin at 8pm and feature live performances from local artists Catherine Campbell, Jayne Huntsman, and Lewis Armistead.
While there’s a lot of interesting stuff on the shelves at Verre Noir, owner Becca Coleman has no trouble picking a favorite. “I love bone art,” she said, “especially this skull that was hand carved to look like scales.”
So whether you’re looking for preserved insects, artisanal teas, or skulls with carved scales, Verre Noir has it all.