PHOTO COURTESY OF FRED’S GENERAL STORE PHOTO COURTESY OF MAST GENERAL STORE Fred’s Mercantile is a popular general store in Beech Mountain, N.C. From its original location in Valle Crucis, N.C., Mast General Store has grown to include locations in urban areas, including Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Columbia (S.C) and several others.
General stores — step back in time
BY DAVID ROGERS
D
uring the last several decades, the urbanization of America and what is colloquially known as “urban sprawl” have engendered the growing market acceptance of “big box” retailers. The “five and dime” variety store and the corner grocery are mostly things of the past. But general stores are still very much a part of many small town business landscapes, especially in tourist destinations where urbanites might want to step back into the past, to a different day and time, when life seemed simpler and the pace a bit slower. The High Country has a few of those retailers and they are still thriving in modern times. Whether their business is driven by tourist nostalgia or simply because they carry a high quality or 136
unusual selection of merchandise that shoppers cannot find anywhere else, our region’s general stores are destinations in and of themselves.
MAST GENERAL STORE
From outdoor outerwear, hiking boots and elegantly casual attire to unusual collectibles and keepsakes, Mast General Store has made a name for itself since the first store opened in the rural community of Valle Crucis, N.C., near the southern edge of Watauga County. So successful has the company been through the years in nurturing a legion of return customers, in addition to the original location and its annex, Mast General Store now has locations in Asheville, Boone, Hendersonville, Waynesville and Winston-Salem in North Carolina; in Columbia and Greenville in South Carolina; Knoxville
in Tennessee; and Roanoke in Virginia. While early storekeepers might have tried to carry everything a community might need, from cradles to caskets, today’s Mast Store “offers a variety of goods from fashion to fried chicken cookbooks and toffee to tents.” And don’t miss the barrels of candy sported by at least some of their locations. Original Store Highway 194, Valle Crucis (828) 963-6511 www.mastgeneralstore.com Annex Highway 194 S., Valle Crucis (828) 963-6511 Boone 630 West King St., Boone, NC 28607 (828) 262-0000
FRED’S GENERAL MERCANTILE
At an elevation of 5,049 feet above
sea level, Fred’s General Mercantile may well be the highest general store east of the Mississippi River. Way back in February 1979, Fred and Margie Pfohl “purchased a rectangular piece of property that was considered ‘useless’ except for billboard advertisement — and transformed it into a thriving business.” According to the store’s website, “Fred jokes that he started the general store business over the price of a can of tuna.” As the story goes, he purchased a can of tuna from a convenience type store on Beech Mountain and he considered it far too expensive — so he started his own retail store to better serve full-time as well well as the growing number of seasonal residents and vacationers. Ever since, claims the website, “Fred has been seen checking the price of tuna on his own grocery SEE STORES ON PAGE 138
SUMMER TIMES 2021
