General Stores

Blend of present and past

High Country general stores offer myriad shopping experiences

BY JAMIE SHELL

There is something special about being able to buy everything in one place. General stores have been romanticized for decades and in many places they are lost to time, but they are alive and well in the High Country.

Fred’s General Mercantile, Todd General Store, Banner Elk Consignment Cottage and the Vintage Farmhouse General Store are just a few of the unique stores that tourists and locals alike flock to in the High Country.

CONSIGNMENT COTTAGE (BANNER ELK)

consign@skybest.com (828) 898-5733

Banner Elk, a town of woolly worms, Highland Games and High Country culture, is home to the Banner Elk Consignment Cottage. Just 17 miles from Boone, the cottage is a sought out store in the area. While Banner Elk often attracts a large group of people during the summer months, most people only stay at their summer homes for four-to-five months.

Instead of hauling their replaced, fine furniture back to their primary homes far away, people bring them to Susan Brown at the consignment cottage for resale.

Brown is selective in what she accepts and chooses to sell, which only increases the customer trust. In turn, the constantly-changing stock offers a potential for multiple visits to the store resulting in various shopping experiences. No two visits are alike.

FRED’S GENERAL MERCANTILE (BEECH MOUNTAIN)

501 Beech Mountain Parkway www.fredsgeneral.com (828) 387-4838

PHOTO SUBMITTED Goober Peas Country Store carries gifts, groceries, local meats and cheeses, bait for fishing and more. The store is convenient to the Meat Camp township and Boone.

For more than 40 years, Fred’s General Mercantile has been a staple of Beech Mountain and the main outlet in the area.

The main store consists of a grocery store, hardware store and clothing store. Fred’s can outfit the entire family for a weekend vacation, home improvement project and more. The grocery is a fully stocked grocery store that carries everything from canned goods to gourmet foods. The hardware section features Stanley tools, tire chains, screws, nails, nuts, bolts and more.

Also on the property is Fred’s Backside Deli, which serves all kinds of food on a daily basis for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The company also takes advantage of its location by offering guest quarters for rent and ski and snowboard rentals. The store is also a great location to find information on all of the many nature sights, trails, mountain views and local events throughout the year.

GOOBER PEAS COUNTRY STORE (BOONE)

1773 NC-194 (828) 386-1017

It is almost hidden along Hwy. 194, going north out of Boone, but Goober Peas has 1,700 devoted followers on Facebook for a reason.

If you are looking for fresh, locally grown food products, you are likely to find them at Goober Peas. The store carries local meats, farm-fresh eggs, Ashe County Cheese, local jams and jellies, ice, firewood and more.

You can buy Cheek’s whole milk by the gallon at Goober Peas. It is so fresh you the label says you need to shake it a bit to blend the cream on top. From their own private label Muscadine grape juice to premium, niche brands of root beer, you will find it at Goober Peas.

But, it is not just food. Other interesting items include SallyeAnder Soaps, a fun collection of greeting cards, and a wide variety of other sundry items, most handmade by local artisans.

SEE STORES ON PAGE 128

Call us!

828-398-5943 828-385-3243 828-385-0657

VISIT US! MOUNTAIN TIME BLOWING ROCK 1179 MAIN ST. (SOUTHMARTE COMPLEX) BLOWING ROCK, NC 28605

MOUNTAIN TIME ON MAIN ST. 105 WEST MAIN ST. BURNSVILLE, N.C. 28714 MOUNTAIN TIME AMISH WHOLESALE WAREHOUSE 605 E. MAIN ST., BURNSVILLE, NC 28714

SUSTAINABLE OUTDOOR LIVING PRODUCTS OVER 5O LOCAL ARTISAN WARES BUCK STOVE HEARTH & PATIO PRODUCTS LOCAL JAMS, JELLY, HONEY & PICKLES DIXIE BELL PAINT BARN QUILTS & LOCALLY MADE JEWELRY choneycutt@buckstove.com kyleighpaigep@gmail.com

Nostalgic Nook

Mountain Time on Mainstreet Blends Traditional Fair with Modern Appeal

When Mountain Time was just an idea, it was the way we described the beautiful town of Burnsville: Peaceful, slow paced and full of life. Just like stepping back in time and sitting on your Grandma’s porch, surrounded by God’s Country. As we filled our store with beautiful custom pieces of art from local artists, locally built patio furniture and the most amazing wood and gas stoves you can imagine, we evolved into creating our own little slice of heaven at Mountain Time on Main Street. We are so proud of our talented community that inspires our artisans to create one-of-a-kind paintings, furniture and artwork. We are so inspired by our local farmers that grow local beautiful flowers and vegetables that surround our patio in the summer and we love nothing more than our new line of candles, as well as our line of jams and jellies that smother our biscuits in sweetness and fills our store with sweet scents that lingers out into the quaint downtown oasis that surrounds us. We have enjoyed all these amazing things so much that we opened another location in Blowing Rock, and expanded our offerings to include handmade Amish furniture available at our Mountain Time Amish Wholesale Warehouse in Burnsville. We love gathering with our friends as often as possible, so any day you may discover local musicians playing their hearts out on our patio. We invite you to join us at any of our locations. Swing by, sit a spell and fall in love with our local flavor as much as we have!

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MAST GENERAL STORE

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

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.

BLOWING ROCK MARKET (BLOWING ROCK)

990 Main Street, Blowing Rock, NC 28605 (828) 414-9322 www.blowingrock.market

Right across the street from the Community Library and within shouting distance of town hall and Memorial Park, the Blowing Rock Market is as much a community gathering place as it is a general store. You just never know who you are going to meet because everybody that is anybody, whether full-time resident, seasonal resident, or day-trippin’ tourist finds their way to the market at one time or another.

Mostly it is about food and conversation at Blowing Rock Market. With a wide selection of beers, wines, and soft drinks, as well as local specialty cheeses, pastries, and baked goods, there is something for just about every palate. And the sandwiches made fresh at the deli are top-notch.

But be sure and strike up a conversation with the folks sitting next to you in the outdoor seating area.

FILE PHOTO The Bee and the Boxwood, Molly Northern’s store located on 215 Boone Heights Drive, is full of handpicked gifts and home accessories. The store also serves as Northern’s studio where she creates and designs for a wide array of clients in the High Country. FILE PHOTO Fred’s General Mercantile on Beech Mountain Parkway has the slogan of “if we don’t have it, you don’t need it.”

MOLLY NORTHERN INTERIORS & THE BEE AND THE BOXWOOD GIFTS (BOONE)

215 Boone Heights Dr. (828) 386-6212 www.thebeeandtheboxwood.com

Molly Northern is a native of the High Country, as she was raised in Boone. Northern developed a keen interest in decorating her home with panache at a young age, observing the decoration from her mother, Bain Winkler.

Combined with a love for art, Northern pursued the passion professionally, achieving a degree in Housing and Interiors at the University of North CarolinaGreensboro.

While briefly staying off the mountain in Hilton Head, South Carolina, Northern returned and went into business with Darlene Parker, creating Northern Parker Interiors in Banner Elk.

However, Northern needed to branch out into her own venture, starting Molly Northern Interiors in early 2017.

While Molly Northern Interiors works with design, The Bee and the Boxwood houses the many gifts offered at the store. According to the website, at the gift store, you will find a curated collection of beautiful gifts and home accessories, all chosen with the charm and warmth of the Southern lifestyle in mind.

The store is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

PHIPPS GENERAL STORE (LANSING)

2425 Silas Creek Rd., Lansing (336) 384-2382

Lansing may be a small town, but a lot of people seem to find it at least in small part because of Phipps General Store. It is a restored general store, advertising itself as “a place where locals and visitors can come and listen to old time music jams.”

There is an abundance of merchandise for sale, including food and beverages, as well as locally crafted artisan work, from jewelry to handbags, pottery and birdhouses.

VINTAGE FARMHOUSE GENERAL STORE (WEST JEFFERSON)

424 E. Second Street (336) 846-4777 thevintagefarmhousewj@gmail.com

The Vintage Farmhouse General Store is located at 424 E. Second Street in West Jefferson and is open Monday through Saturday.

The Vintage Farmhouse prides itself on having something for everyone and features a “man cave” downstairs in the basement, and clothing for women and children upstairs.

The store’s wide variety of merchandise at affordable prices and large parking lot help to set it apart from other businesses in town.

One unique feature of the store is its full-service bakery and coffee shop. Not only does it offer visitors with a sweet treat, but also gives the store a fragrant aroma which the family likes to describe as “smelling like grandma’s house at Christmas time.”

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