New home for Hammer’s in Clinton

Store moving to location on N. Charles G. Seivers

August 11, 2021 by G. Chambers Williams III

The longtime Clinton staple known as Hammer’s Department Store will be moving to a new location within the next year on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard near the old trash convenience center, just east of Ray Varner Ford.

Clinton Hammer’s co-owner/manager Kelly Calhoun, grandson of the store’s founders, confirmed late last week that the company will be moving out of its current location at 1200 N. Charles G. Seivers Blvd., where it shares the building with Big Lots and Dollar General.

“We’re just in the planning stages now, but it was a big decision for us,” Calhoun said. “We’re excited about the move, because it puts us in the middle of everything.

“We’re probably about a year away, and we will finish out our lease here,” he said. “But we are definitely moving out there.”

As sort of a soft way to announce the impending move, Calhoun said Hammer’s parked one of its company trucks with the Hammer’s logo prominently displayed on its side at the recently cleared site of the new building last Friday.

When asked Friday if parking the Hammer’s truck there was his way of announcing the move, Calhoun laughed and said, “The truck ran out of gas, and that’s where we had to pull it off the highway.”

Then he laughed again and said “yes.”

It wasn’t exactly a secret, though, he acknowledged, as rumor had been going around on social media sites about the new Hammer’s location for about a month.

“This is a small town, so it’s hard to keep a secret,” Calhoun said. “But we needed to wait [before making an official announcement] because of our lease obligations.”

A grading permit was issued recently by the city of Clinton for the 2.78-acre site, and a site plan has been submitted showing a proposed 24,200-square-foot building surrounded by 91 parking spaces, on a 2.78-acre site between People’s Bank and the former location of Anderson County’s Glen Alpine Convenience Center (waste-collection) site.

Anderson County property records show the property is owned by I-75 Industrial Group-Series 3, LLC.

Hammer’s has been in business in Clinton since 1952, having started in a building on Market Street. The company itself was founded in 1942 in Guntersville, Alabama, and besides Clinton, it still has Tennessee stores in Knoxville, Sevierville, Wartburg and New Tazewell.

According to the Hammer’s website, each store is still owned and operated by Hammer family members “who focus on bargains, a fun shopping experience, and customer satisfaction.”

“All Hammer’s locations offer a mixture of first quality, closeouts, and irregulars of famous brand merchandise,” the website notes.

“Shoppers can find fun and fashion goods for men and women, along with top name hunting and work wear, shoes, and boots.

“Bargain hunters can also find quality accessories for the home like rugs, home decor, and seasonal florals.