Is 12 South Good for Shopping?

February 19, 2026

12 South is the best shopping street in Nashville and one of the better ones in the Southeast. The half-mile strip has a boutique density that rewards walking slowly with no plan.

Why It Works

The mix is unusually good. You get locally owned Nashville businesses alongside national brands that curated their way into the neighborhood rather than chain-spreading their way in. Imogene + Willie, Judith Bright, MODA Boutique, White’s Mercantile — these are Nashville-born stores with actual reasons to exist beyond retail square footage. They sit alongside Draper James, Madewell, Rag & Bone, Marine Layer, and Vuori without any single category dominating the strip.

The recent addition of the 12 South Collection development brought Oliver Peoples, Mejuri, Lele Sadoughi, Jenni Kayne, Alice and Olivia, La Vie Style House, and Paige to the neighborhood. This has pushed 12 South’s retail footprint toward something closer to Austin’s South Congress Avenue — polished, increasingly national, but still maintained by the presence of the independent stores that made the street worth visiting in the first place.

What’s Worth Your Time

For clothing: Imogene + Willie for quality denim made in the USA; Draper James for Southern-inflected women’s fashion; Marine Layer for soft, laid-back casual; Emerson Grace for elevated everyday pieces with some regional brand focus.

For gifts and Nashville-specific items: Made in TN for locally-made goods (Goo Goo Clusters, Tennessee whiskey candles, Moon Pies); White’s Mercantile for Southern home goods and gifts; Judith Bright for handmade jewelry.

For boots: Planet Cowboy is the designated boot stop on the strip.

For vintage: Savant Vintage handles vintage clothing if that’s the direction you’re going.

The Honest Notes

Most of 12 South’s shopping skews toward women’s clothing and home goods. Men’s shopping exists (Imogene + Willie, Buck Mason, Marine Layer, Stag Provisions for Men) but the strip is not equally distributed. Budgets matter here — Imogene + Willie denim starts well above $100, Draper James prices items between $80 and $300, and the newer national boutiques operate at similar price points. The exception is Made in TN, where you can spend $15 on a bag of Nashville Hot Peanuts and call it done.

Weekday shopping is a significantly calmer experience than weekends, when tourist and bachelorette traffic competes with actual shopping. If you want to browse without crowds, a Thursday or Friday morning is ideal.

Sources

  • Nashville Guru, 12 South Shopping Guide (June 2023): nashvilleguru.com/138881/12-south-shopping-guide
  • StyleBlueprint, 12 South Neighborhood Guide (December 2024): styleblueprint.com
  • Fodor’s Travel, Shopping in 12 South: fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/tennessee/nashville/neighborhoods/12-south
  • Nashville Lifestyles, “Where to Shop on 12 South” (May 2025): nashvillelifestyles.com
  • The Culture Trip, Best Places to Shop in 12 South: theculturetrip.com

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