Things Will Be Great When You’re Downtown

There a distinct feeling that draws people to Waynesville’s wide sidewalks, weathered brick one- and two-story buildings, and broad bay windows with displays of paintings, ceramics, holiday decorations, clothing, and people enjoying meals and sipping locally crafted beer. 

Words like comfortable, interesting and enjoyable come to mind to enjoy the Waynesville experience. Waynesville has a vibe, a sense of place and a history that lives on through the people who visit, as well as the owners and managers of the shops and businesses that comprise Waynesville’s downtown, Frog Level and Hazelwood.

 It is really the people who own and operate the businesses, many of whom have poured their heart and souls into their enterprises, that give each shop its distinctive feel and purpose.

What’s nice about Waynesville is you can stroll or take a short drive to meet the people whose hearts are anchored there.

Main Street was developed concurrently with the neighborhood called Frog Level, and took root as the first trains arrived in town in 1884, delivering tourists, produce and perishables to the town in the North Carolina mountains. 

Among the more than 50 businesses on Main Street, many people are initially drawn to the local Mast General Store at 63 N. Main Street. If they are not walking into the cavernous building to buy clothing and hiking apparel on the first and second floors, then they are listening to the symphony of rumbling footsteps as shoppers trod and shuffle across the thick, wooden floor. The sounds alone are entertaining, but so are the old-fashioned candies, toys, games, jams and natural remedies stocked on shelves on the lower floor. Built in the 1930s to serve as a fine clothier store, the building went through several uses before Mast General bought it in 1991 to open its second store outside of the Highlands.

Beer, burl and a movie

Main Street also still has a selection of furniture stores – Massie Furniture Co., High Country, Davis Home Furniture, Antik and Moose Crossing’s Burl Wood Gallery at 101 N. Main Street.

Moose Crossing’s Janet Metzger operates the gallery – so named because of the elegant, handcrafted furniture – with her husband, Stephen, and son Daniel. The gallery features massive slabs of old-growth wood salvaged from stumps cut in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and naturally fallen cherry, oak, buckeye, sycamore and black walnut trees.

“We only work with American-grown wood,” Janet says.

She pointed to the rich lines and colors in the crafted furniture in the gallery, and talked about the natural mineral influences that tone the wood after years on the forest floor.

“We have taken nature’s natural beauty and transformed it into a work of art,” she said, noting the richly grained desks, mantles, tables and bar tops throughout the store.

Up the street at the Blue Owl Studio & Gallery, which has been at 11 N. Main Street for 20 years, Penny Freeman, an artist and former graphic designer, has changed her shop to reflect the times. Once featuring barn wood frames, hand-colored antique tiles and her own paintings, the store has evolved into an eclectic mix of jewelry, hand-thrown pottery, paintings, and photographs that reflect the regal mountains that surround the town.

“Waynesville is becoming more of a food destination,” she said. “It’s become a nice place to hang out in the evenings. It’s a walkable place. Everyone who comes here is happy to enjoy the experience and to discover what the downtown has to offer.”

Down the street at Earthworks, 21 N. Main Street, owner Elisa Holder features local artists, Native American jewelry, pottery, scarfs and colorful clothing, paintings and photographs – which can be used to decorate a home or a person.

Elisa finds artwork that fits her shop’s motif and artists who blend with her store’s name and her personal philosophy.

“We support artists who are good stewards of the earth,” she said.

Just up the street you can sit down to take in a movie at The Strand, which first opened in 1942 and is currently the only movie theater in town. The theater features first-run movies, popcorn, ice cream, coffee, craft beer, wine, snacks and multiple show times. 

With digital projectors costing five-figures (and the only way now to show first-run movies), the Strand’s owners refurbished the building, which had been closed for 20 years, and crowd funded their projector purchase by trading seats for up-front cash.

“We balance between family films and the dramas that appeal to the older crowds,” said Brooke Cannon, the Strand’s manager. “It’s been interesting to see what movies we try and what does well.”

Several merchants noted that the Strand’s opening has brought more people downtown to shop and eat.

Entertainment is also part of the Firefly Taps and Grill’s fare. Located at 128 N. Main St., the Firefly is one of several restaurants on and off Main Street—such as Boojums Brewing Company, Sweet Onion, Smoky Mountain Sub Shop, Frogs Leap Public House, Chef’s Table and Birchwood Hall Southern Kitchen – that offer a place to rest, sip and enjoy the downtown ambiance.

Firefly features an entertainment night where guests sit at reserved tables, have dinner and beverages, and participate in a game of music trivia. The place is packed, says owner Julie Katt.

“We also feature live music on Saturday nights,” Julie said.

The restaurant evolved from a Thai restaurant (it still features several Thai dishes and a previous owner’s coconut cake), and reopened in January serving lunch and dinner with a Southern flair – fried green tomatoes, fried pickles, steaks, chicken, fish, vegan dishes and sides – and, of course, entertainment.

If you want to bring your dog to downtown, please do, and visit the Smoky Mountain Dog Bakery, say owner Julie Moriarty and her assistant Dominique Medford.

Just what the doggie ordered

Julie bought the store in 2015. A former corporate manager, Julie decided that Waynesville and the people who visit her shop were more in tune with her lifestyle. The bakery cooks themed gourmet biscuits for dogs, which Julie and Dominique decorate in the street-front bay window. Dogs love them, and their owners do even more.

The store also stocks dog toys, leashes, collars and other pet care items, and, yes, treats for cats, too. 

“We have lots of dogs that come in here,” she said.  “We deal with nice people and dogs all day long.”

Where Julie satisfies dogs and their owners, Colleen Davis and her husband, Jim, and design consultant Stacy Downs, help people find pleasure with jewelry that fits their personality. With jewelry from $15 to $15,000, the Jewelers Workbench at offers jewelry that suits every lifestyle, occasion and need.

“We have the largest selection of hand-crafted fine jewelry in western North Carolina,” said Colleen Davis, noting that Appalachian artisans have created many of the jewelry in her store.

Colleen says Waynesville residents have entrusted their heirloom jewelry to her husband Jim and Pat Bauman, the shop’s bench jeweler, to repurpose into more contemporary jewelry. The shop also makes jewelry and offers watch repairs on premise.

The most rewarding part of the business, she said, is after a couple has bought their engagement and wedding rings at the shop, they return with the pictures from their memorable day to share.

“We’ve even had men get down on their knee in the store and propose,” Colleen said.

After the wedding pictures are taken and families flourish, people might stop in at the Village Framer and visit Jeannie Shuckstes, the owner and framer.

Quick to smile and laugh, Jeannie is also knowledgeable about what woods or metals, and which glass, will accent the look and feel of the artwork being framed.

“I take pride in being a craftsperson in the North Carolina tradition,” she said.

Reasonably priced, the Village Framer offers traditional, archival and floating frames, and provides blocking, sewing and stretching services for fiber arts. The shop also features artwork by local artists.

Before leaving the area, stop by the Haywood County Art Council at 86 N. Main St. where paintings, ceramics, textiles, photography, jewelry, furniture and other works of art created by area artists are on display or are represented.

“Our goal is to further the rich nature of the arts in Haywood County,” said Patina Morgan, gallery coordinator. “We also help to preserve the mountain heritage.”

The council essentially is a place for artists to connect, and for people interested in purchasing particular types of art to find work from local artists. 

“We provide a place for artists to begin so that they can springboard into the community,” Patina said.

The council also supports a vibrant music and dance scene in Haywood County, promoting events throughout the year that show cases local talent.

Down at Frog Level

To dig a little deeper into the local shops, take a long walk or quick ride down Depot Street to Frog Level. You’ll know that you’ve arrived when you see the green frog sitting over a carpenter’s level that is painted on the side of a brick building at the corner of Depot and Commerce streets.

When Waynesville began to develop in the late 1800s with the arrival of the a railroad, most of the retail stores, banks, and offices were located on Main Street, and most of the warehouses, wholesale businesses, farm and coal supply stores were in Frog Level. Most of the buildings in Frog Level were built in the late 1910s to mid-1920s.

Today, businesses occupy the brick warehouses. If you’re thirsty from the walk down Depot, stop in at Panacea Coffee Co. for fresh brewed coffee, tea and other beverages. The warehouse building that includes Panacea and Frog Level Brewing was bought by Jim Pierce to house his family’s ceramic manufacturing business in 2001. Brian Pierce, his son, who had worked in the coffee industry since college, arrived from Washington, D.C., where he was working for a coffee company and perked up the idea for Panacea in 2002.

On most days, it’s simply easy to sit at wooden tables next to the river, sip coffee, beer or wine, eat a salad or sandwich, and just relax, tap into the WiFi, read a book, or have a conversation with family, friends and strangers.

In July, an inside seating area that opens into Panacea became the home of quilts made by the Shady Ladies of Waynesville who interpreted the buildings of Frog Level into the fabric. If you visit, you’ll get a sense of the pride that people have in the living history of the area through the beautiful works of art.

The Salamander Slam

Clark Williams, a passionate home brewer who had served in the Marines, opened Frog Level Brewing in 2011. When the company started, Clark was brewing six beer varieties that were drawn from taps served to tasting room customers in growlers and glasses. In 2013, Frog Level Brewery was canning beers and began distributing to grocery and convenience stores. Over the past several years, Clark’s daughter, Celeste Ybanez, has taken over the day-to-day management and has worked with master brewer Matt Norman to expand the brew line to 16. Frog Level beers can be found throughout North Carolina and South Carolina.

Its signature brews—Salamander Slam, Catcher in the Rye, Tadpole Porter and Nutty Brunette—are still popular, as are the signature activities and events—bean bag toss, Saturday night live music, movie on Monday and adult coloring book night on Thursday. 

In early July, the brewery opened a restaurant, serving pizza, chicken, hummus, brats and tots, bacon by the pint and other delicacies that pair with beer.

A few steps down Commerce Street, the Open Door Thrift Shop, with thousands of square feet of furniture, men’s and women’s clothing, books, knick-knacks, vinyl records, paintings and prints, and a scattering of antiques that Haywood County residents have donated to help support the feeding and housing of families and individuals who are between homes, or permanently homeless.

Located inside a former seed and seed warehouse, the high ceilings, solid wood floors, loft and loading docks still connect the past with the present. Deborah Kasbeer is the enthusiastic store manager and knows where just about every item is located inside the rambling building.

“People like donating to us because it is being taken care of while it is here,” Deborah said. “A lot of the history of Haywood County and its people has passed through here.”

Around the corner on Depot Street, Jan Stanley operates Depot Village, an antique dealership that houses 30 vendor stalls. Jan said she loves being in Frog Level and that she dreamed about the appealing brick buildings before she moved from Michigan.

“We have doctors, lawyers, retired school teachers, dentists and other people who rent stalls here,” she said. Sometimes people are just cleaning out their houses or a relative’s home and need a place to show and sell their furniture.

Sunny Ingram, a Florida transplant and one of Jan’s “Village People,” drops in every few days to check on and add items to her booth. She says that she has had several locations in Waynesville, but “I like the clientele and the atmosphere here, and I sell more here and have a good turn over.”

Once old, it’s new again

Around the corner from the Village Depot past The Trader where Fannie Moody and her husband Gene take in and repair used appliances, Joseph Chmara of Dovetail Antique Service at 28 Water Street also buys and sells antiques, as well as repairs and restores furniture.

A mechanical engineer by training, Joseph settled in Waynesville to retire, but found that he couldn’t stop his life-long furniture restoration practice. If you enjoy seeing the tools of an extraordinary craftsman as well as need antique furniture repaired, Dovetail is the place to go.

“People have heard about me by word-of-mouth,” Joseph said. “People have come from Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina.”

He has drawers of veneer wood as old as the 1700s, 200-year-old chisels, 250-year-old screws and nails—all of which are used to restore precious pieces from the past.

Joseph’s Dovetail Antiques also has the distinction of being the last of his kind in Waynesville.

“When I came here, there were eight to 10 restorers,” he said. “Now there is just one.”

Cathey Bolton, one of several ceramic artists in Waynesville and owner of Art on Depot, has loved being in her shop since 2008. 

She has built a thriving business throwing clay on a potter’s wheel and shaping pieces that, when painted and fired, become mugs, plates, serving bowls and artwork. The relatively low rent gave her the opportunity to grow seven lines of pottery and sell it to galleries and oceanside shops along the East coast.

With other family members she recently bought the gas station at the corner of Depot and Banner Avenue, where she will relocate her pottery and a burgeoning olive oil business. The Corner Station will also feature a restaurant and, as Cathey says, it will be “where craft meets food.”

A place for readers

Economics prompted Jo Giley and her business partner, Allison Lee, to move Blue Ridge Books from Main Street to Hazelwood Street last November. Unlike Frog Level, with its large warehouse and commerce roots, downtown Hazelwood’s one-story, red-brick buildings and segmented stores reflect the community’s merchant past that served residents who worked at the town’s former industrial businesses – a tannery, furniture manufacturer, shoe and boot factory, and a rubber plant that made rafts, hoses and timing belts.

Today, the cozy bookstore serves the descendants of the factory workers, as well as other residents and visitors in a building previously occupied by several banks and Hazelwood’s first movie theater in the 1930s (the polished wooden floor does slope). 

From behind the counter, Jo says the book shop features best-sellers, magazines, same-day newspapers, including the New York Times and Charlotte Observer, hundreds of magazines, book sections for history, current events, teens, self-help, fiction and non-fiction, as well as a small selection used books. A comfortable couch and the open bank vault door, which has the children’s reading area, make the shop both inviting and unique.

Noted authors, such as Wiley Cash, Sharyn McCrumb and Jenny Milchman, and local authors Michael Beadle and Royal Phillips, have dropped in to read passages from their books and autograph copies. 

“They will approach us to have a reading here,” Jo says, adding that sometimes they need to host the event at another venue due to the number of people who want to listen to the authors.

Soap for the stars

Across the street at Hazelwood Soap Company, Diana and John Laursen have been selling soaps, scrubs, essential oils and other skin care products since 2015, but have been in the business since 2001. John, a chemist, developed the original formulations.

The business was born out of necessity. At the time, the family was on a tight budget. Looking for extra income, Diana visited a local library, found a book about soap making, and the idea grew from making and giving away soap to friends into a business that sold their branded products at markets and crafts fairs.

The couple found the shell of the building that had once been Ralph’s Grocery Store in the 1940s. The building, which had been gutted by a fire, was the perfect location. The owner agreed to restore it to the Laursen’s specification.

Since then, the business has grown and gained recognition. The couple was invited to sample of their products to the Emmy Awards three times in New York, California and Las Vegas, where bags of their products were given away as gifts.

But the real stars, according to Diana, are the owners of the buildings in Hazelwood’s downtown, who are helping to bring the area back to life after a period of dormancy.

“They come from working families, and they care about Hazelwood and its history,” she said.

At the end of the downtown Hazelwood block, Nettie’s Bakery and Tea House, owned by Kristin Allen Kidwell and Pamela Allen, is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of Haywood County merchants.

“We chose this location,” said Pamela, whose daughter is the pastry chef. “It was the only building we wanted to be in. There was a waiting list and I kept calling the owner. Finally, when it became available, we got in.”

That was in 2014. Since then, the bakery’s business has flourished, not only selling cookies, scones, breads and cake slices to walk-in customers, but wedding and special occasion cakes to families in the greater Waynesville area.

The shop also sells sandwiches at lunch, and has two popular high tea social events each year.

“Everything we make here is from scratch,” Pamela said with pride.

Such pride is reflected by many of the owners and artisans in Hazelwood, Frog Level and downtown Waynesville. They feel they have worked hard and steadily to build their restaurants, stores and shops into places of interest and comfort for their guests.

So take a stroll—or a short drive—and you’ll see why Waynesville is one place in these mountains where the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and flourishing.

They’ve Got HART

The HART Theater, founded in 1985, is a semi-professional community theater showcasing the talents of the people of the Waynesville community and beyond.

The Performing Arts Center opened in 1997, funded by the support of the community.

The facility is located just outside Waynesville on an eight-acre National Historic site owned by the Shelton House Museum of North Carolina Handicrafts. HART is a volunteer-based community theater which features special appearances by professional and semi-professional actors in leading roles.

harttheatre.org.