If you’re planning to attend a holiday party this Christmas season, you have the (sometimes daunting) task of selecting a gift your host is sure to enjoy. Here are a few suggestions that will help you choose a thoughtful gift. We also offer a variety of ideas we hope will bring a smile to your host’s face.

When Mast Store’s newest old location opened its doors in Winston-Salem this past May, we had the pleasure of meeting a woman with close ties to 516 North Trade Street. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Barbara Carter’s father worked in the building that boasted one of the largest retail and wholesale companies in the South: Brown-Rogers-Dixson (B-R-D). After her visit to our Mast Store grand opening in the very same building, Mrs. Carter wrote us saying, “It brought back fond childhood memories of my father and mother, both now deceased, bringing us to visit with Santa at the store.”

This item is a source of curiosity for quite a few folks exploring our home and hearth area of the store. A Mast Store associate shares, “I’m sure to get a great reaction when I show our guests this item and ask them to guess what it is.” Is it a chip and dip tray? Is it used to bake a Bundt or angel food cake?  The answer to these questions is, “Absolutely. But, there’s more!” This handy bowl performs a myriad of functions in the kitchen and just might be the key to helping make your holiday meal preparation a whole lot easier.

If you’ve ever been to Mast Store Hendersonville or enjoyed reading the Fall Foliage Primer over the years, you’re probably familiar with the smiling face below. Janet retired from Mast Store a few years ago and was an invaluable part of our family for over 17 years. Her beautiful autumn photos and leaf gazing updates kept visitors to Western North Carolina abreast of the changing mountain colors in the Hendersonville area year after year.

Woolrich has an incredible, storied history and has long been a favorite of Mast General Store. This heritage brand has been synonymous with quality outdoor clothing for over 185 years.  Fifty-three years before the Original Mast Store opened our doors in Valle Crucis, North Carolina, Woolrich's founder, John Rich, constructed his first woolen mill in Pennsylvania in 1830. The history that unfolded in tandem with the growth of Rich's woolen mill is an incredible story with deep American roots.

While our thoughts are with our neighbors to the south who received the brunt of this past week’s storms, folks in the Blue Ridge Mountains are drying out and hitting the trails in search of brilliant fall colors.  Some leaves fell with the wind and rain, but the good news is that premature color change and bare trees appear to be a minor issue in Western North Carolina. If you find yourself in the Asheville area in the coming weeks, check out a local’s favorite along the Mountains-to-Sea trail just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Beginning with a few random leaves on your lawn in early to mid-September, October cascades into a brilliant wash of color, flaming our hills and valleys with hues we can only dream of creating with a paintbrush. Enter Mother Nature, the master artist. Her palette of reds, golds, greens, and russets creates quite a spectacle, and the changing fall foliage never fails to delight us.

“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple,” J. K. Rowling once mused. Local fall foliage predictors are echoing the same sentiment.  Due to drier than usual spring and summer seasons, we're anticipating this year’s color to be more spectacular than we've experienced in many years. Your friends at Mast General Store and the Fall Foliage Primer hope to help you get the most out of your leafing tour this year.

We’re proud to introduce our new favorite All-American product! Farm To Feet takes the statement “Made in the USA” seriously. From the Merino wool sheared from US-raised sheep to the packaging that helps tell the story, it's all made right here.

Think fall. Think football season. Think TAILGATE PARTY! Tailgating is among the most time-honored American sporting traditions and a delicious one at that. Folks from Mast General Store have gathered their favorite recipes to share with you. Our selection covers the perfect dishes for early to late games, appetizers, entrees, and desserts, too. Are you hungry yet? We sure are!

Late Summer is a magnificent time of year to enjoy the Blue Ridge Parkway. In fact, you could string together a trip through the mountains, soak in their beauty and rich history, and also find time to meander into your favorite Mast General Store at many stops along the Parkway.

“By ten o'clock, the sidewalk along Vine Street looks like the Fourth of July parade. Mama minds the cash box while Daddy and Mitch go to haul more tomatoes and peppers from the truck. The basket of beans is almost empty, so I fill it up again,” reflects Paul Brett Johnson his children’s book “Farmers' Market.”

Over a century and a half ago, and twenty years before Mast General Store opened our doors in Western North Carolina, a storied American manufacturer was founded in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Two men contributed $150 each to the development of what has become the oldest continuously operated shoe company in the United States. This is the story of Frye boots.

You know the summer is coming to a close when the sunflowers start to droop in the heat of the noonday sun. Checking in with a large field of cheery sunflowers near the Mast Store World Wide Headquarters, it’s clear from the sleepy blooms that summer is ever so slowly fading. Before we get back into the swing of another school year, here are a few of our favorite ways to enjoy the last days of summer.

The summer harvest season is in full swing! And if your garden is like ours, you have enough squash to feed everyone in the community. So, if your garden gives you squash, you make squash everything! 

Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, Paddywax has been crafting American-made, artisanal, and eco-friendly candles and soaps for nearly 20 years. They’ve dedicated themselves to creating something lovely for every home and their candles and soaps combine innovative scents and creative designs for every gift-giving occasion.

Coveted ingredients. Classic recipes. Crafted with care. These are the hallmarks of the Old World Moravian baking tradition, a celebration of pure and cherished flavors. Since 1930, Salem Baking Company has proudly carried on this tradition, because they believe using only the finest and essential ingredients is still the best way to convey the naturally vivid flavors in everything they bake.

QMT Windchimes originated in the Florida craft show circuit in the early 1980s. Mike Throne camped in the back of his van and traveled to craft shows selling different products, including wind chimes from a local producer. When his source for chimes dried up, Mike began to build his own handmade wind chimes, with an eye toward quality and continually improving his designs.