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Founded 05-05-05

A New Station for Terrapins

Terrapins Moves to Downtown Boone

Story by Sam Calhoun

Downtown Boone recently got a little more colorful.

Featuring skirts and tops of all shapes, sizes and colors, as well as tapestries and posters, Terrapins’ outdoor display is hard to miss at 362 West King Street. The store that used to be located beside the Boone Mall and inside the Boone Mall at a kiosk relocated to King Street on February 8 and owner Gary “Hippie Gary” Star couldn’t be happier about the new location.

“I’ve had about a one-thousandth percent increase in tourists at the store,” said Star, who has been in the retail business for 10 years after leaving a career in meteorology. “I never got that much tourist traffic at my old location. I’m thrilled to be on King Street.”

Terrapins—taking its name from the popular Grateful Dead tune “Terrapin Station”—sells a wide selection of 1970s gear and gifts and specializes in women’s skirts and tops, as well as blown-glass items and rare tapestries and t-shirts.

“At the new location I am continuing to sell things in volume instead of having high prices,” said Star. “I’d rather keep prices low instead of selling high and I give the savings to the customers and word spreads.”

On Easter weekend, Star had 45 people in his store—90 percent tourists and 10 percent locals, he said.

“That’s a telling sign of the new location,” said Star. “The store is in the midst of a growth spurt.”

From now until May, hundreds of new products are arriving at Terrapins in preparation for summer and the back-to-school crowd. Terrapins features dozens of high-end women’s skirts—long skirts, half-length skirts and wraps—from companies in Florida, New Hampshire, California, Oregon and Asheville. Star is also stocking new baby-doll dresses from a Broadway-based company in New York City.

“The place is stocked with skirts, dresses and tank tops and there’s even better things coming in May,” said Star.

Terrapins also features hundreds of tapestries—the largest selection in town, according to Star—from rock band tapestries to Nepalese to celestial. He sold 160 of the tapestries last year to the back-to-school crowd and has already sold 12 tapestries that will adorn dorm room walls in 2008. Terrapins will be the first store in the nation to sell cloth Jimi Hendrix tapestries, as opposed to vinyl. The tapestries, along with some never-before-seen Grateful Dead tapestries, will arrive in six to seven weeks.

And don’t forget the rock band stickers, t-shirts, posters and merchandise; Nepalese scarves, mittens, socks and hats; patchwork bags; book bags; wallets; and blown-glass pieces. Star gets his glass from a network of blowers hailing from Boone, Oregon and California.

“All of the pieces are double-blown and come at the best prices in Boone for the quality you get,” said Star.

“When the growth spurt happens when spring weather hits Boone, my goal is to get some more guys’ stuff in here,” added Star, who plans to add more Guatemalan tops, patchwork pants and t-shirts for males in the coming months.

“I’m not greedy—I’m all about customer service, random acts of kindness, great quality products and good price points, and people are really appreciative of that,” said Star. “I feel like I have great potential [at this new location] and I hope to bring a good vibe to King Street.”

Terrapins is open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Starting in May and lasting throughout the summer, Terrapins will be open seven days a week, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday. Short-term parking is available beside Terrapins for customers while they are in the store.

“I hope to be here permanently,” said Star. “I love my landlord, my location beside BeansTalk and I love Boone. I greatly appreciate every sale and I thank everyone for supporting Terrapins.”