Today we celebrate “friends.” How good it is to have people in your life you consider friends. If you are fortunate, you have a few people in your life that you could trust with anything. Who invest in your life with the kindness of their words and actions. Someone you could borrow money from because they would give you the shirt off their back. Someone who would sit with you during a hospital stay, or bring a meal to your home during a pregnancy or broken leg. Someone who will listen well if you take a problem to them, and then offer you advice, support, and encouragement as needed. Someone who makes time for you in their busy life…sometimes with just a moments notice. Someone whose smile, hug, nod of their head or squeeze of your hand can speak a thousand words of affirmation about what you share. Someone who can sit quietly with you, laugh at the same jokes, or go on an adventure with you.
We sometimes call our customers “friends” on facebook. We don’t mean to be careless with the word. Truth is, we do care about our customers, and serving you is more than business. It’s personal. Now we can’t do a lot of the things that traditional friends do, and most of you we will only see for minutes at a time here and there. But the best part of our day is when you have time to share your story, both the joys and the heartaches. Sometimes we just listen. Sometimes we might help you find a book or gift that is an encouragement to you or someone you are shopping for, give you directions to a good eating place, or say a prayer over you if you need one.
The mug in this picture just came into our store, and prompted these words today. The backside you can’t see adds the words…”and the joy you have brought to my life!” We hope you all are blessed with deep and lasting friendships, and that as often as you like, you find that we can be your friend in our own very small way.
Michael Beagan
So I was thinking about puzzles, and the word “puzzled.” Puzzled means to be confused by something we don’t understand. And a puzzle is a game or toy designed to test our skill at finding order or organization or making sense of something that seems confusing. We sell a lot of jigsaw puzzles here at the MoonPie General Store…we think our selection and prices are quite good. Some folks seem to buy quite a few through the winter months, wanting something to do indoors when outdoor activity is more restricted. No doubt putting together a puzzle occupies time, keeps the mind sharp, gives a sense of accomplishment, and is fun to work on. Some folks find it relaxing…maybe even a way to relieve stress. All those puzzle pieces, looking similar to one another, waiting to be assembled to create a picture. All you need is a little time and a space on a flat surface…and you’re ready to go! And in our store we usually have two puzzle tables for people to sit at if they are waiting for others in their group to finish shopping. Some folks come in and head straight to the puzzle table! Not interested in puzzles? We invite you to browse our shelves for a few good books to take home with you. Perhaps you prefer to be puzzled by a good mystery or novel. Browse our history section for a look back at how the past has impacted the present. Find a book about our Great Smoky Mountains and the surrounding area. Take home a cookbook to help you put a new delicious meal on your table. Read a biography and be inspired by their remarkable and unusual story. Or buy a journal and begin writing your own remarkable story! And look over our nostalgic gifts that include wood and tin signs, quilt kits, Smoky mountain bears and mugs, Christian gifts, and much more including many MoonPie gift items.
Whether you come to shop, or come to sit…we are glad to have you in our store. We’re not puzzled or confused at all about why we’re here…we’re here for you! Come see us, and we say “thank you!”
Mike Beagan
On April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank in icy cold waters off the coast in the North Atlantic…400 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada. It seems the world has been captivated by this story ever since. There is an excellent Titanic attraction here in Pigeon Forge right down the road from us. Our store offers many books on the Titanic story, and we just received some of these Titanic puzzles (1,000 pieces). It looks like it might be a hard one!
The world globe in the picture is a new item for us and of high quality, priced at just $64.99. What a beautiful and practical work of art to have in your home as you keep up with current events and want to help yourself and your family fully understand where world news is taking place. Perhaps you might give this globe a spin to choose your next vacation?
Wherever you are, wherever you go, we hope that your travels are interesting, fun, and adventurous…and of course, safe! Come see us when you can. We hope to prove ourselves a worthy destination!
Mike Beagan
The basement. Did you know our MoonPie General Store has a basement? Go to the back of the store and down the stairs. We call it our “GREAT BUY” Basement. So what’s down there? Well, our buyer is making some purchases, books and gifts, specifically for the basement. And some merchandise started upstairs, but later was marked down and sent to the basement. There are boxed greeting cards, southern gospel CD’s, Webkinz, and books and gifts of all sorts. We had a recent buy of Guideposts inspirational fiction books, nice hardcovers, and found in the basement at $3.99 each. We have four new devotional journals that are very nice, hardcover, regular $16.99, but sale priced in the basement at $4.99 each.
What else is in the basement? Well we have a children’s table and chairs on a carpet at the front, and are working to put more and more kids books in the basement. We have just pulled a bunch and marked them half off, and are putting them in the basement now. And in the back third of the basement, we have created a books section signed “$3 OR LESS”, with older marked down books. Hardcovers selling at $3, Paperbacks selling at $2, and find three books you like here, and we’ll give you the 4th book FREE. Who doesn’t like FREE?
The basement continues to be a work in progress, but if you visit often enough we think you’ll see that we are working, working, and working some more down there to bring you GREAT BUY product at GREAT prices, and also trying to make our basement more attractive and organized.
Seems like we’re almost through January already. Whew! We hope you are enjoying this start to 2018. Be good to the people in your life, and come visit our store when you are in town. And we say “thank you!”
Mike Beagan
