Our History
In 1924, our Great-Grandfather, Clyde Greene, and his business partners opened Farmers Hardware on King St. in Boone, NC just down the block from our current location. At that time, the competition, Boone Hardware, occupied our present-day location. The original Farmers Hardware was smaller and not as centrally located as Boone Hardware. The effects of the Great Depression claimed Boone Hardware as one of its many casualties opening the door for Farmers. In 1932 with Boone Hardware in bankruptcy, Clyde and his associates bought the building and all of the goods for the price of a used Camry today.
Like the majority of our family, Clyde’s youngest son and our grandfather, Cecil Greene, was raised in the business. As a young man, he was a traveling salesman for hardware wholesaler, C.M. McClung and eventually returned to the store and bought his father’s partners out in 1963 making it a Greene family venture that lasts to this day. Clyde retired in 1977 and Cecil and our parents ran the business for the next 27 years. The rise of big box enterprises and their superior buying power coupled with changing dynamics in Downtown Boone resulted in the closing of Farmers Hardware in the summer of 2004, marking the end of an era.
A Unique Shopping Experience
With retail sales still running through our veins, we decided to develop the building into a retail emporium offering spaces for individuals and businesses to rent and sell their goods.
Our goal was to create an environment for retailers and artisans to have their own shop without the traditional overhead. Working to preserve and reproduce much of the original architecture and fixtures, we constructed interior walls dividing the space into a variety of vignettes.
Today, The Shoppes at Farmers offers a unique shopping experience in the heart of historic downtown Boone. We feature a wide variety of merchandise including: jewelry, handbags, totes, footwear, apparel, baby gifts, handcrafts, wall art, home décor, furniture, toys, kitchen wear and much more. Our eclectic emporium combines goods from local artisans as well as experienced retailers to create a one-stop shopping experience like no other in the High Country. Our building is also home to Neighborhood Yoga and Kindly Kitchen on the top floor, and Benchmark Provisions wine and beer purveyors on the bottom level.