New business Blue Mountain had its official ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, Nov. 13, in downtown Spruce Pine. Pictured, from left, is Spruce Pine Main Street board member David Niven, Spruce Pine Mayor Darla Harding, Blue Mountain co-owner Kelly Georgeou, Ana Georgeou, Spruce Pine Main Street board member Betsy Biega, Paige Georgeou, Blue Mountain co-owner Lex Georgeou, Spruce Pine Main Street Board members Zan Sistare and Beth Byerly, Spruce Pine Main Street Executive Director Libby Phillips, Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Patti Jensen and Spruce Pine Main Street Board member Adam Burleson. (MNJ/Brandon Roberts)
SPRUCE PINE – When Lex and Kelly Georgeou opened Blue Mountain in downtown Spruce Pine, they wanted it to be a small business for small businesses. They plan to adhere to that business model strictly.
“We offer unique, Spruce Pine-centric gifts featuring local artists, souvenirs and other hard-to-find items that can’t be bought online,” Lex said. “The items we sell are from local artists and small businesses.”
Aside from the unique gifts, T-shirts and other items, Blue Mountain also offers screen printing out of the store at 278 Oak Ave. in downtown Spruce Pine.
“It’s going pretty good so far, but we knew we’d be a little slow right now,” he said. “I think we will pick up for Christmas, then be slow in the winter months and pick back up in March, just like we thought. Our products are geared toward tourists, so we expected that.”
A secondary reason for opening Blue Mountain was to add to the streetscape in downtown Spruce Pine.
“We didn’t like seeing the empty buildings, and we wanted to put in something funky and upbeat to make the community just a little more interesting,” Lex said. “We are still trying to get more funky items in the store. We want people to come in and say, ‘Oh, that’s cool. We stayed up many late nights trying to find items that are different. You can’t find any of this on Amazon. We make sure none of this is on Amazon and the company’s we buy from make us sign a release that it won’t end up on Amazon.”