How many mast general stores are there

In , the store closed its doors, and Valle Crucis residents banded together to save the old store. John and Faye Cooper purchased the Mast Store and reopened it in June of , creating a precedent of the Mast Store coming into communities and reviving their Main Streets. The Valle Crucis Post Office reopened in October of , thus giving the valley back its identity, and the rest, as they say, is history. The operation has expanded in much the same manner as when Mast was operating the establishment.

The Annex was opened in , the Old Boone Mercantile was opened in , the Little Red Schoolhouse was opened in , the Hendersonville location was opened in August , a store in Asheville opened in and the first location outside of North Carolina is located on Main Street in Greenville, SC. In the same building is a nostalgic haven for sweet tooth sufferers, where you will find barrels simply overflowing with more than varieties of confections from the past including Mary Janes, Squirrel Nut Zippers and wax bottles.

In the former schoolhouse, find their clearance center. Their staff is highly knowledgeable and friendly. It was built as a competing general store in It houses casual and outdoors clothing, camping and hiking gear and dozens of barrels filled with old fashioned candy. Out back is an ice cream stand. Take a scenic mile drive from the main entrance of Sugar Mountain to reach both Mast General Store locations in beautiful Valle Crucis.

From the main entrance, take a left onto NC Highway In addition to being the community gathering place, the store also served many other needs over the years. It provided an office for Dr. Perry - one of Watauga County's first doctors. It was a place for wildcrafters to bring their roots and herbs in exchange for store credit. And in the aftermath of the Flood, it provided a site for mourners to gather to honor the memory of their lost loved ones.

Operation of the store was passed from W. Howard passed it along to his son, "H. Around about that same time, the site was named to the National Register of Historic Places as one of the finest remaining examples of an old country general store.

In November of , the doors were closed presumably just for the winter season with hopes of reopening in April of However, plans did not pan out.