Old Sautee Store

A general store that has been selling to the valley since 1872

By The Explore Helen Editorial Team Updated October 8, 2026 Hours and history checked with the store's own website

The short answer

The Old Sautee Store is a working general store at 2315 GA-17 in Sautee Nacoochee, about 4 miles and 10 minutes from downtown Helen. It's been open since 1872, it's free to walk into, and it's known for imported Swedish farmer cheese and an interior full of old-store fixtures. The Market next door makes sandwiches (try Nadine's Chicken Salad or Pimento Cheese), baked goods and ice cream. Plan on 30 to 60 minutes, longer if you stay for lunch.

Helen didn't look Bavarian until the late 1960s, and the Old Sautee Store was already almost a century old by then. It opened in 1872 on the old Unicoi Trail, a trade route that connected the valley to North Carolina and Tennessee, and it still sells to the neighbors and to travelers who pull off GA-17 to see what's inside.

It's a real shop, not a set. You'll find candy, canned goods, drinks, soaps, hats, toys and Case knives on the shelves, and the building itself is packed with the antiques and memorabilia the Fried family collected from old country stores. Walking in and looking around costs nothing.

Hours

Checked with the store, October 2026

Hours for the Old Sautee Store and its Market
Place	Days	Hours
Old Sautee Store	Sunday to Thursday	10 AM to 5 PM
Old Sautee Store	Friday and Saturday	10 AM to 5:30 PM
The Market (sandwiches, baked goods, ice cream)	Every day	10:30 AM to 4 PM

Hours can change around holidays, so call (706) 878-2281 if you're making a special trip.

The farmer cheese

Imported from Sweden for more than five decades

The store's best-known product is its Swedish farmer cheese, which it has imported for more than 50 years. The store calls it a bestseller that slices and melts beautifully. It travels well, so it's an easy thing to carry home, and the store sells it online too.

A general store with a long memory

The building did more than sell groceries. For nearly 70 years it also held the community's post office, and in the 1960s the Fried family started turning it into the living museum you walk through today.

A short timeline of the Old Sautee Store
When	What happened
1822	Major Edward Williams arrives in the valley; his descendant R.A. Williams later becomes the store's first storekeeper.
1872	The Old Sautee Store opens as a general store.
1893 to 1962	A U.S. Post Office operates at the store.
1960s	Astrid and Mervin Fried take over. Astrid starts selling Norwegian sweaters on the porch in 1964, and Mervin fills the building with antiques and memorabilia from closed country stores.

Source: the store's own history page.

Lunch at the Market

Sandwiches, baked goods and ice cream

The Market is the store's sandwich counter. It serves southern classics on fresh-baked bread, plus baked goods and ice cream, and it sells Nadine's Chicken Salad and Nadine's Pimento Cheese by the pound if you'd rather build your own picnic. It keeps its own hours (see the table above) and closes earlier than the store.

It pairs well with a loop through the valley. Stovall Mill Covered Bridge is a short drive away, and Hardman Farm and the Nacoochee Mound sit along GA-17. Our Sautee Nacoochee Valley guide puts the stops in order.

Getting there

The store is at 2315 GA-17 in Sautee Nacoochee, about 4 miles and 10 minutes from downtown Helen without traffic. Take GA-75 out of Helen toward the valley and follow GA-17 from there. Parking is at the store. On busy fall weekends the road slows down, so give yourself a few extra minutes.