mon9AM - 6PM
tue9AM - 6PM
wed9AM - 6PM
thu9AM - 6PM
fri9AM - 6PM
sat9AM - 6PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 6PM
sat10AM - 6PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 8PM
tue10AM - 8PM
wed10AM - 8PM
thu10AM - 8PM
fri10AM - 9PM
sat10AM - 9PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 8PM
sat10AM - 8PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 8PM
sat9AM - 8PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 8PM
tue10AM - 8PM
wed10AM - 8PM
thu10AM - 8PM
fri10AM - 9PM
sat10AM - 9PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 7PM
sat10AM - 7PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 8PM
tue10AM - 8PM
wed10AM - 8PM
thu10AM - 8PM
fri10AM - 9PM
sat10AM - 9PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 7PM
tue10AM - 7PM
wed10AM - 7PM
thu10AM - 7PM
fri10AM - 8PM
sat10AM - 8PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 7PM
sat10AM - 7PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 8PM
sat10AM - 8PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon9AM - 6PM
tue9AM - 6PM
wed9AM - 6PM
thu9AM - 6PM
fri9AM - 6PM
sat9AM - 6PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 6PM
sat10AM - 6PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 8PM
tue10AM - 8PM
wed10AM - 8PM
thu10AM - 8PM
fri10AM - 9PM
sat10AM - 9PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 8PM
sat10AM - 8PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 8PM
sat9AM - 8PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 8PM
tue10AM - 8PM
wed10AM - 8PM
thu10AM - 8PM
fri10AM - 9PM
sat10AM - 9PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 7PM
sat10AM - 7PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 8PM
tue10AM - 8PM
wed10AM - 8PM
thu10AM - 8PM
fri10AM - 9PM
sat10AM - 9PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 7PM
tue10AM - 7PM
wed10AM - 7PM
thu10AM - 7PM
fri10AM - 8PM
sat10AM - 8PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 7PM
sat10AM - 7PM
sun11AM - 6PM
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 8PM
sat10AM - 8PM
sun11AM - 6PM
A couple of weeks ago, many chambers of commerce and tourism groups held a ceremonial ribbon-cutting to signify that Western North Carolina is open and awaiting your visit. Valle Crucis is open, too, and welcomes a new restaurant and a revamped trail to its offerings. We hope you’ll visit soon. ...read more
Local Flavor | Travel
Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Original - Valle Crucis
The Roanoke Mast General Store celebrates its five-year anniversary on Tuesday, June 17. While Mast Store’s history in this city is still young, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been eventful. ...read more
Behind the Scenes | Local Flavor
Roanoke
This week we’re joining Mr. Peabody and stepping into the Wayback Machine. As he adjusts the dials to get us to Valle Crucis in late 1979 and early 1980, we’ll share a few historic markers to help paint a clearer picture. The prime lending rate was 14.5% with the interest rate being 11.3% (compare that to now – the interest rate is 2.7%). The country was in the midst of an energy crisis caused by the Iranian Revolution, which led to a drop in oil production and long lines at gas stations. Those are some of the external conditions a young family was facing when they made the decision to leave Florida and re-open an old general store. ...read more
Adventure | Behind the Scenes | Local Flavor | Mast Family Favorites | Mast in the News
All
In the days after September 27, 2024, highway information signs were emblazoned with a message... Do Not Travel in Western North Carolina. That sounds ominous, but its message was not overstated. Because of the tireless work by state and federal employees, local folks, and thousands and thousands of volunteers, the mountains are OPEN – including two lanes of Interstate 40 – and we invite you to vacation... And volunteer! ...read more
Inspiration | Local Flavor | Travel
All
... Our favorite foods! Food is universal because everybody’s got ta eat! And the last two months of the year are filled with more than their fair share of family meals, work gatherings, special outings to favorite restaurants, tins filled with homemade cookies and fudge, and the anticipation of food traditions handed down from generation to generation ...read more
At Home | Recipes
All
Even before we bought the Mast General Store, we were taken by the beauty of Valle Crucis. We’ve heard people describe the drive out Broadstone Road as traveling through a time portal. In the 1970s, fields in the river bottoms would be filled with tobacco, cabbage, or high with hay to feed cattle that were grazing in the summer pasture. ...read more
Local Flavor | Mast Family Favorites
All
mon10AM - 6PM
tue10AM - 6PM
wed10AM - 6PM
thu10AM - 6PM
fri10AM - 8PM
sat10AM - 8PM
sun11AM - 6PM
Winston-Salem is at a crossroads, really. Let’s remember a time when travel was via oxen cart, horseback, or on foot. A map was an important tool, and the one drawn by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s father, documenting the Great Wagon Road was one of the first based upon first-person surveys.
Salem, founded in 1766, was along the way to the southern terminus of the Great Wagon Road. Travel in the 1700s was arduous, but you could say that this Road was a super highway of its time. It connected Philadelphia and the Moravian settlements of Bethlehem and Nazareth in Pennsylvania to the southern outpost in Salem. People were flowing south and goods from North Carolina were headed north.
Read more ...
Textiles became a vital part of the economy in Salem in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The Single Sisters Choir had a successful business weaving linen and sewing leather gloves, which were needed for everyday life in Salem and the excess could be sold to other settlers. Soon, bigger mills and automated weaving looms found a home in Salem processing both wool and cotton.
In the late 1800s, tobacco warehouses and processing plants began cropping up. It was a central place for farmers to bring their crops for sale and manufacturing. These warehouses and plants grew into an empire and set Winston-Salem, as the town became known in 1913, up as a center for manufacturing and finance.
As time passes, many things change. Tobacco fell out of favor and much of the textile business has moved away, but that hasn’t squelched Winston-Salem’s will to survive and excel. With the same industriousness of the turn of the 20th century, Winston-Salem is fueling its drive toward the future with a past rooted in the arts and a determination to find a better way to do things. When innovation and arts come together, they create a synergy that is exhilarating and a city that is vibrant, alive, and welcoming.
The Mast Store in Winston-Salem is in a building that was once the largest retailer in town. Today, we hope you’ll find an experience that hearkens back to “the best place to get it.”
Read less ...The history of the building at 516 North Trade Street actually begins in 1880 when Thomas Jethro Brown, Mitchell Rogers, and William Carter saw the needs of a growing trade center in Winston. Brown and Carter were involved in the tobacco industry, so Rogers managed the growing business. Brown-Rogers & Co. had its first building at the corner of Fourth and Main Streets.
Their business instincts were right. Hardware was in great need for the burgeoning tobacco industry. In the early 1900s, Brown-Rogers & Co. occupied most of the block between Liberty, Fourth, and Main Streets. A second building was built on North Liberty Street to handle the growing business. It opened in 1905. That building came in handy when a fire destroyed the Main and Fourth location in 1913.
Read more ...
The history of the building at 516 North Trade Street actually begins in 1880 when Thomas Jethro Brown, Mitchell Rogers, and William Carter saw the needs of a growing trade center in Winston. Brown and Carter were involved in the tobacco industry, so Rogers managed the growing business. Brown-Rogers & Co. had its first building at the corner of Fourth and Main Streets.
Their business instincts were right. Hardware was in great need for the burgeoning tobacco industry. In the early 1900s, Brown-Rogers & Co. occupied most of the block between Liberty, Fourth, and Main Streets. A second building was built on North Liberty Street to handle the growing business. It opened in 1905. That building came in handy when a fire destroyed the Main and Fourth location in 1913.
In 1915, W. N. Dixson joined the company as vice-president and general manager. With the passing of Carter in 1924, Dixson purchased his shares and became the president. The company became known as Brown-Rogers-Dixson.
Winston-Salem’s population was growing by leaps and bounds, so a new, larger building was commissioned to be designed by Northup & O’Brien, an architectural firm that designed several prominent buildings in the city. When the B-R-D building opened in March of 1928, it was Winston Salem’s largest business. With 70,000 square feet of space, it was also one of the largest retail/wholesale spaces in the South.
The original flooring in the fashion and mercantile departments was harvested from the Pisgah Forest by the Carr Lumber Company. George Vanderbilt, of Biltmore Estate fame, sold acreage to the Carr Lumber Company for $12 per acre. He could have made much more per acre, but he insisted that the weak trees be taken first and then the rest of the forest would be selectively harvested and new trees planted to replace those that were taken.
B-R-D dominated the retail scene in Winston-Salem through World War II and lived up to its slogan as the best place to get it. Its stock included everything from nuts and bolts to sporting goods, like metal roller skates. They even manufactured their own wooden wagons for children to enjoy when steel wasn’t available during the war. Warehouses throughout the Carolinas were added to service its wholesale customers. With locations in Raleigh, Charlotte, and Columbia, many customers could have their orders the next day.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, it became evident that B-R-D could better serve its clients through the wholesale side of their business, rather than maintaining both a retail and wholesale presence. The retail side was discontinued in the 1970s. Unlike other stores that become Mast Store locations, B-R-D is still in business with a location on Cloverleaf Drive here in Winston-Salem. It services independent dealers in appliances, bedding, etc. and helps them remain competitive in a “big-box” world.
When B-R-D left this building, it went through a series of owners and housed offices and a satellite police department.
It is now listed as a contributing property for the Arts District Historic District and became a part of the Mast Store Family in May of 2015.
** Historic photos, except the lunch counter, are courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
** Photo of the lunch counter is courtesy of Ronny Dixson.
Read less ...A decade has flown by since the Mast General Store in Downtown Winston-Salem opened its doors on Trade Street. On Friday, May 9, 2025, the Mast Store will celebrate with an evening of live music, food sampling, and more at its location at 516 North Trade Street in Winston-Salem. ...read more
Behind the Scenes | Local Flavor
Winston-Salem
There are so many questions to wonder about these days. Like, who was the first person brave enough to eat a chicken’s egg? Or why do some people think cilantro tastes like soap and others can’t get enough of it? How did certain colors come to represent the Volunteers, Paladins, Hokies, etc.? Or a burning question that we like to argue about, who thinks the college conference re-alignment is a good idea? And that question can lead to so many other questions. ...read more
Local Flavor
Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Columbia | Greenville | Knoxville | Roanoke | Original - Valle Crucis | Waynesville | Winston-Salem
Fall is here! The bridge between summer and fall is full of delicious possibilities: the last heirloom tomatoes and sweet corn linger, pears and sweet potatoes start to arrive, and more apples than you can name can all be found at your local farmers’ market. ...read more
Local Flavor | Gardening | At Home
Asheville | Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Columbia | Greenville | Hendersonville | Knoxville | Roanoke | Original - Valle Crucis | Waynesville | Winston-Salem
A decade has flown by since the Mast General Store in Downtown Winston-Salem opened its doors on Trade Street. On Friday, May 9, 2025, the Mast Store will celebrate with an evening of live music, food sampling, and more at its location at 516 North Trade Street in Winston-Salem. ...read more
Behind the Scenes | Local Flavor
Winston-Salem
There are so many questions to wonder about these days. Like, who was the first person brave enough to eat a chicken’s egg? Or why do some people think cilantro tastes like soap and others can’t get enough of it? How did certain colors come to represent the Volunteers, Paladins, Hokies, etc.? Or a burning question that we like to argue about, who thinks the college conference re-alignment is a good idea? And that question can lead to so many other questions. ...read more
Local Flavor
Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Columbia | Greenville | Knoxville | Roanoke | Original - Valle Crucis | Waynesville | Winston-Salem
Fall is here! The bridge between summer and fall is full of delicious possibilities: the last heirloom tomatoes and sweet corn linger, pears and sweet potatoes start to arrive, and more apples than you can name can all be found at your local farmers’ market. ...read more
Local Flavor | Gardening | At Home
Asheville | Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Columbia | Greenville | Hendersonville | Knoxville | Roanoke | Original - Valle Crucis | Waynesville | Winston-Salem