In 2012 we changed our store name to MoonPie General Store and the Original Book Warehouse. Since 1987, we had been selling books and some gifts as Book Warehouse. Of course with the new name, came changes to the store layout and the product, and we now proudly offer our customers moonpies and moonpie merchandise! There are normally five flavors of moonpies…chocolate, vanilla, banana, strawberry, and salted caramel. But once a year the Chattanooga Bakery does a batch of coconut minis for Mardi Gras, and lets the MoonPie General Stores order some for their customers. The coconut mini is delicious, and some of our staff will tell you it is their favorite flavor! It has the flavor, but without the grit or chewy texture of coconut! It does not come in a single or double, and it is for a limited time only. We just got our last shipment of 60 cases of coconut minis delivered on Friday, April 6th. Enough to probably last us through April, we hope, and possibly into early May. Come by for a visit and ask us if you may have a free sample…we’ll probably say “yes.” We’ll also say “thank you” for visiting our store! (P.S. We also have orange minis for a limited time!)
Michael Beagan
I am making myself laugh even as I start to write this. I was going to say “I picked up a book the other day.” Funny! If you work at a bookstore, you’re constantly picking up books. Sometimes you’re putting out books for your customers to shop. Sometimes you’re straightening, and returning stray books to the shelves. And sometimes you touch a book and because you’re a bookseller and a book lover, you want that book for yourself or a friend. So I did pick up a book the other day. “The Road Home.” A children’s book. I thought it was sweet, and I had someone in mind to buy it for and send to them. I like the repeating theme, “This road is hard, this road is long, this road that leads us home.” I especially like the page near the end that reads, “This road is hard, this road is long, but we are not alone. For you are here, and I’m with you…”
Seems like we’re all traveling through this journey of life with one destination or the other in mind. It’s good to know where you’re going. It’s good to get to your destination. And surely it is good to enjoy the journey, and to find strength and rest and friends and help, when the road is hard and long. We need that. To not be alone. To have others walk alongside us, and re-affirm we’re going the right way and the destination is worth it.
If your road is hard and long, and you need a place to stop and rest…. A place to be reminded of your value and your purpose… Well, that seems a lot to ask of a MoonPie store that also sells books and gifts. But we are stretching…trying to be a little bit more than that. And sometimes we might have the right word or the right book, to help you with the next little bit of of your journey. So we invite you to come in for a bit, and visit and shop, sit and play checkers, work a puzzle, have a moonpie and an RC, wander the book aisles, find a good book, and possibly discover that we care about you and are glad that you gave us a few minutes of your time as you paused from that long, hard road.
Michael Beagan
If you visit The Great Smoky Mountains you might be lucky enough…and surprised…to see a bear! They are just one of the many beautiful things to take notice of if you can make time for a hike. A couple weeks ago I went on a hike using the Little River Trail that starts in Elkmont. This trail follows alongside a river, and I took many beautiful pictures. And I said to myself “This is a thinking man’s trail” because it was mostly flat and easy, and I didn’t have to give all my attention to where I was stepping. After about 2.5 miles, I started my return to Elkmont using the Cucumber Gap Trail. Recent rains has raised the height of a little stream I had to cross, but I removed my shoes and socks and found a stick to help me make my way across. I was hiking alone, and at times on the Cucumber Gap Trail I thought I might be lost (I wasn’t) and also thought for a couple brief moments what if a bear confronts me (didn’t happen). I was watching for bear droppings on the trail and didn’t see any, so I wasn’t too worried. I also wondered as it got later in the day, “I wonder when my wife would send the park rangers to look for me” if I do get lost. Truth is, I was always on the main trail and it just took longer to hike back to Elkmont. The whole hike was wonderful. It is amazing what time in the mountains will do. It is truly good for a man’s soul…a woman’s soul, too!
If you don’t get to spend time on a trail, perhaps you’ll spend time visiting our store. If you do, you’ll find moonpies and moonpie merchandise, old time candies and sodas, plenty of books…and oh, yes, gifts of all sorts including tin signs, quilt kits and quilts, kids’ toys, some collectibles, Christian gifts…and yes, bears! We have a wonderful shop just inside the one entrance that features books about The Great Smoky Mountains (hiking and history), books by local authors, fictional stories about these mountains-Appalachia-the South, as well as Smoky Mountain gift items such as bears and mugs, magnets and pictures, and more!
Give us a phone call to ask questions or visit our website to learn more about us! And consider following us on facebook at www.facebook/.com/MoonPieGeneralStoreTN to keep updated about our store, our product, things happening in our area, and the many good customers who have come by and shared their stories with us.
Michael Beagan
MoonPies, MoonPies, MoonPies. If you’re from the South, you probably grew up with them. We hear stories all the time from people who remember special times growing up, eating moonpies and drinking RC cola. Some recall trips to the general store as a child where a tasty moonpie awaited them. Some tell of sitting on the front porch at the end of a long day, maybe with their dad or grandpa, eating their moonpie.The moonpie memory reminds many people of times from the past, when you worked hard and then took a few minutes to rest a bit, talk with family or friends, and enjoy a moonpie and a RC.
If you aren’t familiar with moonpies, then a wonderful treat awaits you. They are made in the Chattanooga Bakery, just a little bit down the road from our store, so the moonpies we offer are bakery fresh. They come in seven delicious flavors…chocolate, vanilla, banana, strawberry, lemon, orange, and caramel. Buy them individually or in boxes of twelve, and you can make your own variety box if you like. You’ll need your own moonpies, plus another box to take back home with you to share.
And our moonpie fans will find moonpie merchandise includes t-shirts, mugs, tin signs, cookie jars, cast iron skillets, stuffed animals, magnets, shot glasses and more! This shop also includes fun and interesting nostalgic items such the Beatles, John Wayne, Dr. Who, Star Wars, I Love Lucy, The Wizard of Oz, and a variety of Super Heroes. And you’ll find silly items like Bacon body wash, Cupcake Band-Aids, stick-on beards or historical finger puppets. Come see us at the MoonPie General Store.
About 1987, a Book Warehouse store opened on the Parkway in Pigeon Forge. It became a favorite stop for both locals and tourists to find great buys on books. Fast forward 25 years. Changes in the book business caused the owners to be looking for another “brand” to partner with the Book Warehouse brand. And in early 2012, the store became MoonPie General Store and the Original Book Warehouse. The inside of the store went through some radical changes, as bookshelves and books were pushed to one side, making room for moonpies and MoonPie brand product, and a great gift assortment on the other side. And the intent was to make the moonpie/gift side look as though you were walking down an old time main street with little shops to your left and right, and offer many old time, nostalgic gift items in the store. Mission accomplished, and three years later we are still receiving wonderful compliments almost every day from our customers about the changes we made when we became MoonPie General Store!
So what have we been doing more recently? Good question, and here’s my answer:
- We made some changes to our inventory over the past year to greatly increase the number of new releases and best selling titles that we offer…wanting our customers to find those frequently requested titles on our shelves.
- Speaking of “finding stuff,” we just introduced a new sign package to guide you to the various book categories around the store…and really, it is the first new signage for our books in 25 years.
- We have been getting much more active on facebook, keeping customers informed of happenings like author events and showing pictures of new product and in-store displays.
- And this website you’ve reading this blog on is brand new for us, and we may have a few bugs to work out yet. Deciding to sell selected product online is another new step for us…check out the shopping tab and some of the great product we are offering!
- And we have a new gift card program we are about to roll out.
Perhaps you’ve been in our store before…or you are checking us out for the first time on our website. It is our hope that you will make us a destination when you are come to Pigeon Forge/Dollywood/Great Smoky Mountains…and that we will impress you and spoil you enough that you come see us every time you are here!
