Avoiding Big Box Stores

Small towns are charming and I appreciate the local folks making a go of it in the mom 'n pop shops. I bought my bicycle in Waxhaw, and I also enjoy showing visitors that circa 1800's town. Solid buildings with arches and tall doorways. Standing on the wooden bridge as a train with 50 box cars chugs through. Decent restaurants and a few shops for gifties. If I can avoid a trip to a big box store, I do...but sometimes the little stores don't have exactly what I need.

My Saturday errands took me to Matthews, NC which is about 10 minutes away. Today was the first nippy Fall day and the big pot bellied stove was so welcoming and warm at Renfrow's Hardware. I picked up some canning jars but they didn't have the right replacement floodlight for my kitchen ceiling lights. Renfrow's has a good mix of hardware essentials, gardening tools, heirloom seeds in mason jars, kitchen stuff, locally made pottery, gold panning hats and screens (!), sleds, firewood, manure, chicken wire and wooden birdhouses. And on and on and on.

I posted some pix a year ago, but before I left today I snapped a few more. What a great store.

The broom guy who had his shop in Waxhaw has resurfaced and is renting the annex at Renfrow's. It's uninsulated so he can only be in there a few more days before cold weather sets in. I bought a broom from him last year. The space is set up like a museum and it's neat to see the old equipment being preserved and used.

A nice Saturday spin thru Matthews. Now, I'm off to Home Depot for the floodlight.

*Sigh.*