Independent, by design
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Read the stories behind independent businesses in the LearnLocal community, then go show up for them.
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Lucy's advice booth in Peanuts was the model for The Booth Fairy Project's, but this version has a different menu. Free advice, gluten-free hugs, staring contests, and standing ovations are all on it. Elle Erickson, the…
3 published stories →
Michelle Castelloe spent 14 years as a brand director at Urban, Inc. for Anthropologie, a role that included overseeing 50 stores. In 2015 she left to open Moxie Mercantile, a vintage and modern lifestyle boutique in…
58 published stories →
The land behind Bush-N-Vine Farm has been in the Hall family for over 150 years. It started as a peach orchard. The building on it was a peach packing shed in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1979, Bob Hall reopened it as an…
10 published stories →
Justin and Lacey Greene split the job the way a good team should: Lacey designs it, Justin wraps it. Between the two of them, a car goes from "just a car" to something that looks like it was built that way. Full color…
1 published story →
Mallory Anita Lawson is an artist and designer based in Upstate New York. She grew up in North Carolina, spent about ten years in Los Angeles, and now makes work across ceramics, textiles, graphics and interiors. She…
1 published story →
When Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina, the region's arts scene took enormous losses. The North Carolina Arts Foundation moved nearly $965,000 to artists and nonprofit arts organizations across 26 western…
1 published story →
Giuseppe "Joe" Papa was 17, fresh off a boat from Naples, when he opened a pizzeria in Trenton's Italian neighborhood in 1912. During the Depression, he and his wife Adalene sold a cheese pie and two sodas for a quarter…
1 published story →
Tall Stories Books on Cherry Rd in Rock Hill, SC is open three days a week: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Those are the days to go if you want a signed copy or a first edition. The shop is an…
12 published stories →
Lea Jaunakais had one goal in 2007: do something real for endangered animals, not just talk about it. She bought a closed-down zoo in Rockwell and reopened it in 2008 as Tiger World. What started with a handful of cats…
1 published story →
Most camera stores will sell you a long lens. The Yellowstone Camera Store will also take you to Africa to use it. Christopher Balmer opened Perfect Light Camera & Supply in Idaho Falls in 2008 and built it into a…
1 published story →
When a storm pulls shingles off a roof, the first question is how fast someone can get there. Bee Roofing promises an inspection within 24 hours. Once a proposal is approved, the repair or replacement is done within one…
30 published stories →