Faces of Hall County: Janet Upchurch

Interview by Flowery Branch High School intern Traci Timmons
Meet Janet Upchurch! Janet has been the owner of Sample Pleasures Gift and Antiques in Downtown Flowery Branch for 25 years. The shop is described as “the last of the true, old fashioned wholesale outlets” where Janet says “if you want different, this is the place.” She has been married to her husband Gray for 55 years, and they have lived in a cabin on Lake Lanier since 1989. Together they have a son named Grayson along with three grandchildren named Sydeney, Alli, and Grayson III nicknamed “G3.” 
“I’m a person who likes unique. I don’t like what everybody else particularly likes, and I like it when people come in here and they find something that is really different. It may not fit exactly their decor, but they are smart enough to make it fit. That’s what I love.” 
We want to thank Janet for spending time with us recently and telling us more about her life and love of Hall County.
Question: What inspired you or led you to opening Sample Pleasures?
Answer: “It was a fluke because I had been in automobile racing. I used to manage Road Atlanta Race Track, and then I left the track and did consulting work in PR for different car companies, Corvette, Audi, and so forth. I was tired of traveling, so we had purchased this property in 1989. One of my husband’s fraternity brothers was in the gift business, so I just said ‘You know what? I think I’m going to open a shop.’ I did a 5-year plan, and that was 25 years ago.” 
Q: What inspired the name “Sample Pleasures?”
A: “I got samples from showrooms from New York, L.A., all over the place for wholesale. Never a penny above wholesale, and then after we started growing, I morphed into art, antiques, and other things.”
Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County, and what do you order there?
A: “I would say Antebellum. I really love Antebellum. They have an appetizer that is a fried green tomato with egg, and he did a root beer braised short rib that I loved.”
Q: What is something unique or something you love about Hall County?
A: “Obviously the lake because that’s why we moved here. We live on the lake; it’s getting very crowded, so it’s not as unique as it was when we first moved here, but I love racing. My life has been racing. My son still races. My husband teaches occasionally, so I like being close to Road Atlanta.”
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? And why?
A: “That’s real easy. It would be Spain because I’ve been there and I fell in love with it. I went everywhere. I went to Madrid. I went to Barcelona. I went to the coast. I went by myself actually, and I met up with two girls from Australia, and we ended up paling around palling around together. I met some people who were to a Formula 1 race in Spain. There’s just something about that country that I love.”
Q: Which countries have you traveled to?
A: “I was in Berlin when the wall came down which was absolutely fascinating. So, I’ve been to Germany and Spain, of course and England, and actually, a friend and I are trying to go to Portugal this year.” 
Q: What is your favorite movie? What is the first movie you remember seeing in a theater?
A: “Right now, ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain,’ of course. And for my first movie, it was an Elvis movie, which bless his heart, all of his movies were awful, but my sisters were in love with him, so they drug me to the show. I just remember laughing when something bad happened to him, and they were mad at me for doing that.”
Q: What three bands would you like to see (dead or alive)?
A: “I’ve seen a lot of bands. One of our friends owned a place called The Great Southeast Music Hall in Atlanta that was the hot spot years ago. If I could bring somebody back to life, it would probably be Jimi Hendrix. I love Paul McCartney. I love the Allman Brothers. I really like music all over the place.”
Q: What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
A: “Cabin, water, and husband and dog”
Q: If you had a full time staff member that was full paid for who would you choose?
A: “Housekeeper for sure because I hate housework.”
Q: What is something that is on your bucket list?
A: “I really want to go back to Europe several times. I love Europe. I love the history there, the fact that they are keeping their history, and I’m a real history buff. I just like to travel.” 
Q: What advice would you give a crowd of people?
A: “Follow your dreams. Do it.”