New General Store Comes to Warren Wilson College Farm
Jasper Everingham | November 8, 2023
A partnership between the Business and Farm Crew brought a new project to the Warren Wilson College (WWC) campus. A new general store, housed in a refurbished farm building, had its grand opening on Nov. 4 and is going to be selling farm products such as meat and student crafts for WWC and the broader Swannanoa community. Jack Igelman, the supervisor for the Business Crew, said that he is excited to see the project take off
“It's been really exciting because I think it's unique to put two crews together that do two totally different things,” Igelman said. “It's been fun to see that blending happen. I think we have some things to figure out about how it works, but it's been really, really good.”
Photo by Willow Solomon .
The crafts made by WWC students will be sold in the store on a monthly rotating basis, and all student vendors had tables in front of the store for the opening. Dean Worhas, a vendor selling bone jewelry and artistic designs, said that the application process for selling in the General Store was much more rigorous than selling elsewhere on campus.
“This is very different than the other sales I've done because I had to do a whole ‘why I should be here’ process,” Worhas said. “There's also a stipend associated with this, so I [proposed] what I would do with the stipend.”
That stipend was part of a seed money grant given to the college by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, said J Steffe, a professor of outdoor business.
“I mostly worked with the student entrepreneurs,” Steffe said. “There was an application part of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation grant for student makers who wanted to participate in both the grand opening and then selling their products in the farm store, and so I helped organize the eight folks who received that grant.”
Austin Leonard, another student vendor selling hand-forged hooks, clasps and other so-called “trinkets” said that he is very excited for the opportunity. Like Worhas, he already had some product and said he ramped up production once he got involved in the General Store.
“I didn't know that it was going to happen when I started preparing because a lot of the stuff was made over the summer; I just was making stuff to sell,” Leonard said. “When I got to campus, I heard about the farm store and everything, and I really kicked into overdrive and made as much as I could, and I enlisted some help from my friends. It's been a ride, and I've enjoyed every minute of it.”
The General Store will be open every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Igleman and Steffe both expressed interest in expanding the operation.
“I'm hoping this can be this can serve as a model for other enterprises on campus, whether it's for crafts, or food, or for all the cool things that we're doing at Wilson,” Igleman said. “I think incrementally we'll be able to continually improve the product, the operation, and the involvement of students.”