Washburn’s General Store has been a constant in the Bostic community since 1831 and the owners have changed with the times over the years.

Gone are the Zenith televisions and Whirlpool washing machines that once were placed on an aisle together. Gone are the shelves of groceries that nearby neighbors of Rutherford County counted on for their daily meals before larger stores opened in the area. Gone is the outhouse, the pot belly stove that heated the space, and the rolls of laminate flooring that stood in the corner.

Now they have hoodies with their logo, security cameras in corners overlooking the operation, and indoor plumbing to go with their plumbing supplies.

Fifth-generation owner Ann Washburn Hutchins looks for a plumbing supply for a customer.

 

The store’s familial namesakes are also still a large part of the operation. A fifth-generation owner, Ann Washburn Hutchins, now runs the small business, which is considered the oldest continually-run, family-owned-and-operated retail business in North Carolina.

“We’re asked all the time when are we going to retire,” Hutchins said of the pair. “We tell them, ‘When the Lord retires us.’”

Until then, she’ll show up for work, help customers find the correct wood screw in the hardware section or a North Carolina-made birdhouse that would be a perfect Father’s Day gift. During the Christmas season she would help grandparents locate the perfect toy located on two aisles on the store’s left side.

A framed picture in the store exhibits the names and birth years of the owners, including  

brothers Benjamin (1806), Perry (1813) and Reuben (1829). Then came Edward Nollie Washburn (1874), his son, E.N. (1902), and on to Edward III (1930). 

Look around the store and you’ll think you are back in those earlier years, as electronics aren’t on the shelves. Hutchins has a simple rule: “If it has batteries, I won’t order it,” she said. Instead, there are Fisher Price toys that evoke a childhood without devices and Tonka trucks (made of metal, of course) that can be pushed along dirt roads or in sandboxes.

The store, like those toys, evokes thoughts of simpler times, when locally-run stores carried everything a family could need. The current location of Washburn’s General Store is more than 100 years old, has the original hardwood floors, and sits at Wshburn’s Crossroads, which is a spot several miles outside Bostic where six roads come together. In 2002, The National Department of the Interior inducted the General Store and a dozen other community buildings as a National Register Historic District.

The front entrance serves as a history lesson to tourists who have often found the place over the years. There are photos of former owners, old stories from newspapers and magazines, and a simple sign that says “Welcome to Washburn Community.” Many family members still live nearby, commuting to nearby jobs and spending time in the general store.

With this being a family business, Hutchins has been a part of the store’s workforce for decades. “As soon as we could reach the cash register, we rang up,” she said of helping customers check out.

Now her granddaughters and their friends work the store and in the coming years, Hutchins said, her grandsons will start working there, too. 

It’s a gathering spot as much as a store to buy needed items. Several tables sit near the front for conversations or a quick sandwich lunch. Banter is as normal as cash register sales.

When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred in 2020, they reopened the store as quickly as possible and furnished it with more kitchenware as people spent more time cooking their own meals. “They became our best sellers,” she said.

Not that the store has ever been the main money-maker for the family for decades. Hutchins’ father ran Washburn Funeral Home while he also worked at the store. Hutchins admits that she lives off her teaching retirement but is adamant that she keeps the business going. “You can't live on this store, you just try and make enough to keep it running and pay your help, and pay yourself a little something once in a while,” she said.

It’s a place where Hutchins can do more than sell goods, she also shares her story with others and that includes her life in the nearby church (she’s the piano player at Bostic United Methodist Church) and her admiration for service men and women (she closes on all service-related holidays). 

It’s a place that is counted on by the community and, as more grandchildren become employees, should continue to be a part of the community surrounding Washburn’s Crossing.

For more information about Washburn’s General Store, check out its website: https://www.washburnstore.com/