The Original Mast General Store

As a kid, we’d come to this place after the Candy Barrel (located up the street) and not have any interest in it (we’d be too busy eating candy). As an adult, I made sure to walk through the place while eating my candy.
The store has been open forever and I highly suggest you stop by if you are in this part of NC just for the history of the area. They have a huge wood burning stove in the center that really heats the place up in the winter.

A must see! I mean, where else can you go and get a RC Cola and Moon Pie combo pack! This place has everything and has live music on the back porch at times.

Nothing compares to the original Mast General Store. The original building is really cool and something you don’t see in the other locations. The staff is very friendly and knows about the products. I came here twice on my trip because I enjoy looking around so much. I had to buy their jam which is delicious. I also bought local biscuit mix and a car magnet. Their prices are reasonable and it is great to support such a neat company. Even if you don’t want to buy anything I would suggest coming to look at the old mailboxes and other artifacts from the 1800s.

Great store, probably the finest general store I have shopped in. They have loads of unique items here. It is very entertaining to shop here. I love the T-​shirts and hats they sell here and always get some when stopping in. The town of Valle Crucis is also very scenic and worth checking out.

Always like coming here when in the Smokey Mountains.
Absolutely LOVE the T-​shirts they sell here!
This is the only place in the Smokey’s I’ve been able to find SUGAR-​FREE ice cream, and it’s really GOOD!

This store could be entitled, «Welcome to my childhood memories!»

My sister and I visited Banner Elk, NC for a skiing trip to Sugar Mountain. A local at the ski rental place told us about it. It was a little ways outside of Banner Elk. It took us about 20 – 30 minutes to get there but the back country mountain roads were very scenic and we enjoyed the drive.
First you pass the Annex (the newer store) but that is not the original store. Go about a mile and you will see the Original General Store. The outside is a little confusing because the sign is very small but if you get to a building that looks old with a oval shaped ESSO sign, you know you’ve arrived.
The outside of the store will look a little like a Post Office. There is parking in front of the store as well as in the back. I really like the recycle bins on the outside of the store! They may be old but are environmentally aware, which I think is great!
Once you enter the store you are transported back 200 years! It’s crazy how old this place is. You can imagine what it must of felt to live back in the 1800s where you would come to get your mail & also pick up some nails for whatever you were building.
They have literally everything at this store. Anything from Swiss army knives to shoes to housewares to grocery and more. It’s kind of a one stop shop for everything you need. This place is great! Everyone is so friendly as well. I highly recommend visiting this store if you are in the area.

There are 2 Mast General stores and they are located about 2 seconds from each other. Apparently «The Original» is better. In any case, it must’ve been and I believe it because this store was so fun!
They have EVERYTHING and a goldmine to buy little trinkets and home-​grown souvenirs and gifts to take home. They also include a whole section of outdoor gear in one section of the store. My favorite part is that it is part gift shop, part museum with their creaky wooden floors, semi-​complimentary ‘5-​cent coffee’, and in-​house post office.
Out of towner or not I’d recommend it just as part of your holiday shopping! A great North Carolina find :)

The name of this store should be, ‘If We Don’t Have It, You Don’t Need It’ because they have EVERYTHING! Old school candy, check. Vintage pop, check. North Face gear, retro toys, handmade bling and kitchen gadgets: check, check, check and check. I love visiting Mast General, it’s an NC tradition that rounds out any trip to the mountains. Beware the ‘real’ Ginger Ale… it’ll put hair on your chest and flames in your throat! Be you local or tourist, young or old, there is something here for everyone and it’s always an amusing store to visit.

The Original Mast General Store is on the National Register of Historic Places. It opened in 1883, and store slogan was «Quality Goods For The living, Coffins & Caskets for the Dead» ~ W. W, Mast — c.1923.
This store is a delight. A true piece of history when you walk thru these doors. On the post office side you will find an old pot belly stove. Next to that is a table set up with a checker game… if it’s empty take time to sit a spell and play a game. Bottle caps are the playing pieces. The Old-​Timey Mercantile carries all kinds of food products from stone ground corn meal & grits, to pickled vegetables, bacon and country ham. Non food products include traditional housewares (enamelware, cast iron) folks toys, clothing, nostalgic toys & old fashioned candy.
There is just so much to see here. You can easily spend a couple hours checking everything out. There is a clearance table where I found a great folk art Raggedy Ann doll. Lots of souvenirs with the Mast name on it from the normal: mugs, t-​shirts, to the normal for the south: funeral fans!
Be sure to check out their Annex just a bit down the road… that’s where the real candy mecca is with over 500 types of candy!

The original store is the coolest. This is the kind of place that you need to check out. It’s only a few miles off of highway 105, and it’s really not a long drive at all. Valle Crucis is a nice little burb as well. Much better than the store in downtown Boone, which is in a «real» store.
What you will find is the most excellent cobbled-​together floors that are almost funhouse-​like. In fact, you might have a problem with some of them, especially the ones upstairs.
The original «cradle to caskets» motto is still good — a cradle is upstairs, as is a casket. Downstairs you can find a working post office (you aren’t supposed to touch, but everyone does), and all sorts of dry goods. Off to the side is an impressive array of clothing, but that section is actually somewhat at odds with the rest of the store, so we didn’t spend much time there — it’s not that different from the clothing section of any Wal-​Mart or department store.
It’s the general store that is the best, where you can find spices and ointments and soaps and food and furniture and just about anything, all while the real wooden floors creak underneath your feet. But it’s not a creak like today’s houses have, it’s a creak that denotes age and it’s something that you just can’t find everywhere. Very nice, and worth a trip.