The shop occupies a renovated NAPA Auto Parts building a short walk off Adamson Square. Lynne Sammon and Amy Kent, who met while working at the University of West Georgia, spent about two years on the building and opened the doors in October 2017. They left the industrial bones alone — their own word for the result is “feminine industrial.” Kent retired in June 2022; Sammon still runs the store, which serves west Georgia, the western edge of metro Atlanta, and east Alabama.
Worth knowing before the drive: this is a bridal salon first. Wedding gowns, mothers’ and social-occasion dresses, flower girl dresses, veils, tuxedos. Alyce Paris and Terani both list Downtown Gowns on their official retailer locators, and both brands also appear on the store’s own social-occasion designer filter, next to Adrianna Papell Platinum, Jasmine Black Label, Jasmine Jade Couture, Marsoni by Colors, Rina di Montella and Christina Wu Elegance. A junior or senior shopping here is working the same evening-gown racks as brides’ mothers, not a dedicated prom floor. Sizes on the social-occasion side run from 000 up through 24W and beyond, depending on the label.
The tux half is the local story
The Squire Shop had outfitted Carrollton men for more than six decades. It closed on June 30, 2025. Eight days later, Downtown Gowns opened Downtown Tux next door as a Jim’s Formal Wear dealer, handling rentals and purchases for weddings, proms and other events. For a Carroll County prom couple, that put the dress and the tux on the same short stretch of Rome Street. The two storefronts keep different schedules, which is the practical thing to plan around:
| Storefront | Phone | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown Gowns | (770) 702-0530 | Tue–Fri 10–6, Sat 9–6; closed Sun and Mon |
| Downtown Tux | (770) 832-9673 | Mon 12–6, Tue–Sat 10–6; closed Sun |
The tux side is the only one open Monday. The gown side asks that you call for bridal appointments, and Saturday is when those appointments stack up, so a Saturday prom visit is better with a phone call ahead of it. The store also says outright that not every gown in its online catalog is on the floor — if a specific Alyce Paris or Terani style is the reason for the trip, ask first.
Who this store is within reach of
Carrollton is the Carroll County seat and has two school systems feeding it. Carrollton City Schools runs one high school, Carrollton High, with roughly 1,825 students in 2023–24. The Carroll County School System runs five more: Central, Villa Rica, Temple, Bowdon and Mount Zion, the last with fewer than 500 students. Central and Villa Rica are longtime rivals, and Downtown Gowns has been involved with band and athletics programs at Central and Temple, along with the Ladies Night Out fashion show benefiting PASS and Carrollton Main Street.
Everyone arrives on the same handful of roads. US 27 runs north–south through town, SR 166 comes in from the Alabama line west of Bowdon and continues east toward I-285, SR 16 connects to Newnan, and SR 113 runs up to Temple and I-20. Rome Street is downtown, so parking is street and lot parking rather than a mall deck.
Timing matters more here than in the Northeast. The Carroll County Chamber events calendar lists the Carrollton City Schools prom for Saturday, April 25, 2026, 8 to 11 p.m. at Carrollton High School — late April, which means gown decisions and tux fittings land in February and March, not April. Downtown Gowns describes itself as a family- and faith-based business, and appointments here run long rather than fast.