I was born in 1968 and have been a lifelong resident of Davidson County residing just outside of Lexington. From an early age, I have been an advocate of local business as are most of my childhood friends. I reckon it was because our parents were local shoppers. Especially during Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
When I was young I do not recall hearing people complaining that there was nothing to do in the area. Maybe they did, but to me personally, there seemed to always be something going on in Davidson County and always something cool to do, even if it was something as simple as Smokey and the Bandit at the Lexington Drive-In Theater (complete with burgers, fries, soda, Zero candy bar and giant swing sets) or a local Elvis impersonator, Johnny Lawson. on a mobile stage in the local Sky City parking lot (Yes…it happened and it was BIG FUN). At times, it there was so much going on that is was overwhelming. So much so that I had to take a break and play Atari for a minute.
From the time I was about five years old, I vividly remember my mother dragging me away from Saturday morning cartoons at least twice per month to go shopping in Lexington. The town was packed with shoppers on Saturday. My mother could not parallel park very well, so we always ended up walking several blocks to get to Main Street. Once we were there, it was like a festival…it was on like Donkey Kong! before Donkey Kong was Donkey Kong. It was amazing how much shopping my mother could pack into a short time period–usually no more than two hours. We would start at Belk department store on Main St. This is where I learned the art of stealth. As a small child, I was invincible, invisible, and nimble. Able to slip in and out of clothing racks and under display tables like a panther. Zimmerman’s, Picket & Green, and Army/Navy Store were pretty awesome as well. Each store had something distinctly cool from a kid’s perspective. We would hit all of them, then head to the shoe stores, a couple of fabric shops and dime stores, Conrad & Hinkle for some pimento cheese, and Fancy Pastry for a cream horn. Then as an extra super-bonus, Mom would head to either Lanier’s Hardware or Gibson’s to get me some BBs for my Daisy BB Rifle.
If you were a kid in Lexington back in the early 1970s, a trip to Gibson’s and Lanier’s was a major treat. Gibson’s had these awesome handicap accessible ramps–all over the place it seemed, and Lanier’s was the upper echelon of kid heaven…Lanier’s had EVERYTHING!! It was tough to get a kid, and some adults, out of Lanier’s without a major tantrum. I am pretty sure Santa shopped there. While mom and I headed home we would stop off at Mayberry’s for a sandwich and some ice cream. What a day! Every Saturday! And home in time for some Blackjack Mulligan, Wahoo McDaniel, and Nature Boy Ric Flair on Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling.
Support your local businesses. If you own/operate a business in Davidson County or are an advocate of shopping local and have a list of favorite businesses, please click on the Directory Form link below and submit their info so we can add them to the DC Alive Business Directory.
