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Foothills Faces

People & Places of the Carolina Foothills

Lyddie Shaneberger - A Foothills Picker

2/2/2019

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The folks on American Pickers could learn some things from Lyddie Shaneberger. Lyddie (a nickname for Lydia) has been picking since she was one year old. Okay, maybe not quite that far back but that’s when she attended her first auction. Who knew this would be the beginning of a career direction and the creation of Lyddie’s business LS Mercantile + Salvage Co.
 
Now 25 years later, Lyddie can thank her parents for starting her out in the world of picking. They took her to that first auction and she hasn’t looked back since. She says picking is in her blood or perhaps it was her parents raising her with an appreciation of history and storytelling. Lyddie especially appreciates the storytelling part. She loves to ask questions and discover answers to the “treasures” she’s collecting. Where’d it come from? What is it? How old is this? Who are the people who once owned this? As Lyddie spent years learning about the business, it wasn’t until she was a teenager when she started to understand the monetary value of the items. And she understood the potential to “recycle” them or repurpose them and hopefully match up a buyer to her discoveries.
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Lyddie Shaneberger - A Foothills Picker
At age 16 Lyddie was already setting up shop; selling online with her own Etsy store. Just the year before her family’s life changed forever. Her father had an accident, a 30-foot fall from a hunting tree stand. He was left unable to walk. Lyddie looked for ways to help with family finances and that’s when she realized that her love of picking might not only help the family situation but could be her life’s calling. It has not always been an easy road.
 
“You won’t make it” is a phrase Lyddie says she and many other would-be small business owners have heard. For some, it’s enough to discourage them from trying. But for Lyddie…it was a challenge she would face head on. With encouragement from her parents, her boyfriend Dave, and her circle of friends - Lyddie has worked to take “pickin’ vintage” to the level of a serious small business endeavor.
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Out Pickin'
​Lyddie still has her Etsy store online and a year or so ago she opened up shop in “Workshop Vintage Market,” a business in downtown Shelby filled with an eclectic assortment of dealers. Right now this works well for Lyddie as she works to build the business into a full-time career. But now in addition to running her shop, helping when she can at home, and other tasks a young entrepreneur is faced with…Lyddie is holding down three jobs while also enrolled at Western Carolina University. She’s a nanny to two families, manages the local Loft Outlet’s Instagram account (and occasionally works there on weekend as well)…all the while finding every chance she can to go pickin.’
Lyddie usually travels the Southern states but she’s planning a foray to the Northeast this coming fall. She’s forever on the lookout for the next big find. She says she doesn’t care to follow “trend” as some people in the business suggest. Instead she prefers to follow her heart. She picks what she loves and knows that someone else will love it too. There have been times when Lyddie has only had a $20 bill in her pocket and got lucky and found items that were worth hundreds. It happens. It takes street smarts. Lyddie Shaneberger has them.
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At "Vintage Market at the Park" in Travelers Rest, SC last fall. She'll be here again this April 19-20.
Lyddie’s goal is to have her own storefront somewhere. It would also involve curating collections for people’s homes, having a space for artisans and makers, and possibly a market for each season for others like her to come together and create an experience that would be so good she could make Country Livingmagazine one day. She also hopes to graduate spring 2020 and even possibly start a MBA program while her boyfriend finishes his Ph.D. at Clemson.
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Lyddie's little slice of picking' paradise at "Dallied" in downtown Shelby.
Lyddie Shaneberger has some advice for would-be small business owners. “Do it. Do it with all of your heart and your patience. Be passionate about what you do and you’ll never wake up not wanting to go to work on a Monday. Work hard, be strong, and don’t let others get under your skin. You control your own life. So create who you want to be.”
 
Lyddie’s story should be an inspiration to us all.

More to know
You can find Lyddie’s unique collection of pickins’ at her space at “Workshop Vintage Market” at 108 North Lafayette Street in downtown Shelby and is open Monday, Tuesday, Saturday from 10 until 2 and Thursday & Friday 10 - 5:30.  Do a search on Etsy using LS Mercantile + Salvage Co. to find her space in the cloud. Lyddie is also on Facebook and Instagram and you can reach her by email at [email protected]. Lyddie was born and raised in Forest City and is appreciative of the sense of hard work instilled in her by her parents.

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Lyddie's backyard workshop "she-shed."
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Mark Ray & Dad's Collectibles -

12/12/2018

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Rekindling the Past

Dad’s Collectibles in Saluda is filled top to bottom, corner to corner with history and it’s obvious that owner Mark Ray is not just a shopkeeper. He’s part historian and part storyteller and can tell you the background of each item crammed into his shop. When you leave, you will have been enlightened.
 
On first glance you might think Dad’s Collectibles is a toy store. Not at all, though of course any of the items could be played with. And there are certainly items that children would love to get their hands on. Mark has Hot Wheels and is even a Breyer distributor for their line of equine items.
 
But this is most certainly a treasure store for adults. Mark has always been an enthusiast of die cast models whether it’s planes, trains, or automobiles. If it rolls or flies there’s a good chance Mark has it. These items are incredibly detailed down to the last bolt and they are truly collectibles.
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Mark Ray in front of his shop. He shares space with the Saluda Historic Depot.
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Mark is a huge Ford fan. Part of this is because. his dad was with the company for years.
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He lives and breathes this passion for keeping history alive. In fact, he set up shop in the Historic Saluda Depot so that he could help keep the museum portion of the depot open on a daily basis. And if you wish to dig a bit deeper, Mark was also one of the influential folks who helped convert the old depot building into the museum that more than 10,000 people a year visit. 
 
Mark has had a love affair with models since childhood. What’s nice, he says, is that “what one can’t afford in full scale they can afford as a model.” His parents were involved in various forms of transportation. His mom was a flight attendant (called stewardess back then) for a few years back in the mid to late fifties until she married his dad and was forced to give up her job. His dad worked with Ford Motor Company for many years and was also a regional sales rep for Winnebago. His granddad worked as paymaster and treasurer with Queen City Coach out of Charlotte. It would seem natural that his parents’ and granddad’s work experiences led Mark to this hobby, which led to this being his work. 

To most people, they just dream about turning a hobby into their profession! To Mark, it just seemed natural.

Dad’s Collectibles has been around 20 years with most of those years being owned by Dean McWilliams in Hendersonville. When Dean was ready to slow down he handpicked Mark to be his successor. Mark moved the business to Saluda in October 2017. Nancy Pew is his partner who has helped make the store possible with financial support, business experience, and marketing skills.
 
Mark doesn’t just deal with models. He’s also into the big boy toys. He drives a ‘67 Ford LTD. You can’t miss it since he drives it to work when he doesn’t walk. You’ll see Holman-Moody decals proudly embellishing this perfectly restored car. Mark has worked with Holman-Moody for 20 years and now even sells their apparel in Dad’s Collectibles. Mark still has a body shop in Hendersonville where he orchestrates the work on restoring other unique vehicles. He’s excited about a 1966 North Carolina Highway Patrol Custom 500 that will be shared with the North Carolina Transportation Museum and will be featured at trade shows. And if you enjoy a brew or two in the gardens area at Sierra Nevada in Mills River and notice that little beer truck out back…that’s his restoration as well!
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His restored 1967 Ford LTD sporting a Holman-Moody decal.
Mark would love to see kids put down their smartphones, iPads, and Bluetooth headphones and see them instead get dirt under their nails and sunshine on their faces. Collecting something like a classic car, plane, or train could start that new interest in something other than electronics. 
 
Mark reflects, “At the end of the day, Dad’s Collectibles is my way of remembering some of the past and some of those treasured times in my youth and this is one of the few stores that puts you back in that era. You can’t move forward into the future if you don’t know your past.”
 
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Winnebagos also hold a place in his heart.
Mark has lots of projects ahead of him including seeing an excursion train run from Saluda to Zirconia. He has more cars to restore and more stories to tell. Throw your kids in your car, drive back in time, and visit Mark Ray and Dad’s Collectibles before they glue their eyes back to the screen on their phone. It’s worth your time.

More to Know
Dad’s Collectibles is located at 32 W. Main Street in Saluda and is inside the Historic Saluda Depot. Store hours are 10:30 – 5, Tuesday through Saturday and by appointment. Mark’s website is www.DadsCats.com and you can email him at [email protected].
​Shop phone is 828/ 769-9016.

Click each photo to see an enlarged version in the gallery.
Mark Ray
Mark has loved performance cars for as long as he can remember. Here's a model of the "Bullitt" car.
This poster is autographed.
Mark's dad used to be a sales rep with Winnebago, so camper models are also part of his wares.
This is the actual engine from Mark's own train he had as a child. This one dates to 1970.
Yes, even Breyer items for the horse lovers.
Hot Wheels and so much more.
Too much in this store to even start to show it all.
Mark loves history. He helped bet the mural restoration done in this print from a Hendersonville street scene. And that truck...it's a drawing of the one he helped restore which proudly stands at Sierra Nevada in Mills River.
Models of some of the locomotives that once traveled the Saluda Grade.
Mark's a big fan of Eastern Airlines. His mom was a "stewardess" with them before she got married. Back then, when a stewardess married...they had to leave the company.
Mark has some rather large scale vintage planes as well. This is a WW II era B-24.
Mark with his big model. This was is drivable.
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The Country Peddler - Not Your Usual Antique Store

8/26/2018

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It takes a bit of luck to find the Country Peddler Antiques & General Store in downtown Campobello. It’s a couple of blocks off of the main drag and that makes it in the country by Campobello standards. The morning I visited a customer walked in for her second visit in two days. Heather, the customer from Greer, had just discovered the store the day before because of a bridge detour which took her right past the Country Peddler. She liked what she saw so much she made a second trip to pick up some items she had eyed on day one and picked up that and some other finds she hadn’t planned on day two. That’s what makes a shop like this so much fun—you’ll never know what you’re going to find.
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The shop is owned and operated by business partners Jeaneen Cobourn and Debbie Denton. Jeaneen is there all the time and Debbie comes in on most Saturdays. The two ladies started the store in 1995 and do it all. They always have. Jeaneen’s husband comes by to cut the grass and take care of other chores from time to time, but it’s Jeaneen and Debbie’s pride and joy and they make up the entire staff. 
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Debbie Denton & Jeaneen Cobourn
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Jeaneen does what she loves.
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The store overflows into three buildings within just a few feet of each other. Each of these buildings is crammed full of interesting treasures. In addition to antiques (and there are a lot of them), The Country Peddler also sells other items one might expect from a “general store.” So next to antiques you’ll find salves, liniments, Fuller Brush items, candy, toys, corn meal, and grits. Jeaneen says she has regulars who drop by just to pick up some salve, or oilcloth, or a bag of meal. The Country Peddler is so much more than just another antiques store.
​If you’re not from this part of the foothills, you might not know that the area has become an antique-lovers paradise. It’s a destination for antique seekers from Greenville, Spartanburg, Asheville and places in-between and farther afield. It takes a bit of knowledge to find this one because it’s just a bit off the beaten path and that’s what drew Jeaneen to this location. She and Debbie had batted around the idea of starting some kind of business together and this was their choice. Jeaneen said, the “location spoke to me. It’s quiet and rural and I didn’t want to be in the middle of a city somewhere. This location was perfect.”

Jeaneen isn’t quite ready to embrace social media so a Facebook page is just not in the current marketing plan. So if you want to “like” this place, you’re going to need to go check it out in person. Slow down and enjoy your stay.

UPDATE: Jeanneen reports she DOES have a Facebook page and is learning to use it. So search for Country Peddler Antiques & General Store and look for a photo of Pappy. Then, click that "like" button.
 
“Do what you love” is Jeaneen’s advice to anyone looking to start any kind of endeavor. It’s obvious she loves what she’s doing.

More to Know
You will find the Country Peddler at 305 Depot Street in Campobello, South Carolina. It’s open 10 to 5, Tuesday through Saturday. There is a website (www.countrypeddlersc.com) and basic info can be found there. But if you really want to know what they have, you’re going to need to get yourself there. Phone: 864/ 468-5200.
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Click each photo to see an enlarged version.
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    Mark Levin

    ...retired in 2017 from a life of work, mostly in education. I decided it was time to stop commuting and stay at home a while. Foothills Faces is meant to bring you short snippets of life through photography, videography, and audio recordings of some of the wonderful people and places of the Carolina Foothills..

    And for something new:
    Check out Mark's new YouTube Channel, The Country Life with ColumbusMark. It's a lighthearted look at life in the country.

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