Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
July 3, 2008 issue
Green Eggs and Jam Moves To New Downtown Location
Store Plans To Host All-Ages Live Music Events
Story by David Brewer
In an age when downloads are slowly but surely sapping the life from CD sales across the nation and independent record stores are going the way of the dodo, downtown Boone music store Green Eggs and Jam is not only weathering the storm, but the store has also moved into a new, larger space.
Now located in the Boone Mini-Mall in the space that housed Grapevine Music for many years, Green Eggs and Jam owner and proprietor Stacey Peek is excited to be in the historic spot. Formerly located in a compact spot across from Murphy’s, the store has already seen a dramatic increase in foot traffic thanks to being on one of Boone’s busiest street corners.
“The location here is of course a lot better,” said Peek.
In 1994, Peek opened the original Green Eggs and Jam in his hometown of Asheville, where, according to the avid collector, the music pickings were slim.
“In Asheville at the time there weren’t any record stores and I was tired of driving to Charlotte to get my music,” said Peek.
Peek sold the original store and relocated to Boone in August 2006, trying to fill a music niche not being addressed by local stores at the time. Green Eggs and Jam’s inventory reflects the personal taste of Peek and his best customers, not flavor-of-the-month musical trends.
“We pretty much have what we like in here—from punk to metal to indie rock,” said Peek. “We try to take care of our customers. You won’t find any hippie music in here.”
From an expanding vinyl collection and lots of CDs to clothing, DVDs and a few other odds and ends, Green Eggs and Jam is filling up its new space nicely.
On Friday, July 4, Boone’s resident tambourine-shaking kings Naked Gods will perform at Green Eggs and Jam. While Peek hosted a handful of shows at the store’s old location, he’s hoping that the new, larger space will allow him to host in-store performances several times a month. The shows will be open to customers of all ages—something virtually no other venue in Boone can offer because of alcohol sales.
“That’s the thing up here—if you’re under 18 or 21, you can’t go to the shows,” said Peek.
Peek and his employees are thrilled to be in the new, busier space and hope that music fans who share their edgy and eclectic taste will frequent the store. Customers can rest assured that Green Eggs and Jam won’t be stocking any of the new releases by MTV darlings or American Idol winners.
“We’ll listen to what people want but we’re really not going to be a mainstream record store,” said Peek. “That’s already been taken care of by Wal-Mart.”