Valentine’s Day is coming up this Sunday, but don’t sweat it, don’t wait for shipping, just shop local. Love begets love, and we definitely need more love in the world– so when you buy handmade locally produced gifts, you’re passing the love of creation to another soul. If you’re looking to buy something for someone special this year, whether it’s a boy/girl friend, parent, child, friend, coworker, neighbor or peer.

Masks

It’s clear that even with more and more Americans getting vaccinated against covid-19 every day, it still might be a while until we get back to normal, and even then, masks will still probably be trendy and fashionable. We’ve got a large selection of handmade masks from Milestone Bag Co, Aaron DuBray and TS Designs. Don’t keep going around with that same blue disposable mask. Step it up.

Upcycled Wooden Cutting/Charcuterie Boards

If you love good food and good art as much as we do, you might just fall in love with these beautiful upcycled handmade wooden cutting and charcuterie boards from Oak & Olive. Each board is made from rustic barn wood from around the state, hand carved, stained and polished. Available in several shapes, sizes and kinds of wood, this is a truly one-of-a-kind gift for any food lover. And they look great in photos if you want to impress your friends on Instagram with your culinary creations.

Wine for any budget

Wine is a Valentine’s Day staple, and we’ve got everything from $4.99 bottles of Romance Rosé to more expensive vintages from around the world. White wine, red wine, rosé, sparkling wine, NC wine, California wine, Italian wine, French wine, South African wine, vino is always a good accent on a quiet romantic evening, even if that “romance” is just you taking some down time while reading a book or catching up on movies on Netflix.

Craft Beer

If you’re making a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner, and you or someone you love is a fan of craft beer, have they even heard of the Saxapahaw General Store? About how we’ve got one of the biggest cold craft beer selections in the area? About how you can get nearly every beer from Saxapahaw’s very own Haw River Ales? Mix and match your own six packs or pick up a Mystery Six Pack and make a game out of what you might find inside. Maybe something local, maybe something imported from Bavaria… it’s a mystery!

Oysters

Oysters oysters oysters, boy oh boy do we have a wide selection of NC and Virginia oysters available to order! They say that raw oysters are an aphrodisiac, but they’re also just really yummy whether you’re on a date or not. And if you or your date love oysters, we can have them delivered to the store for pickup by Saturday if you place your order with us by Thursday at 4:30pm. Check out our full selection of seafood available to order here.

Handmade Jewelry

The rings, necklaces and earrings from Arachne Weaving were so popular over the holidays that we got restocked for February. You don’t need to impress with diamonds. These handmade wire-wrapped gemstone pieces are absolutely stunning, and each one is absolutely unique with its own personality, and all of them are made right here in North Carolina. When you support local artists, you not only have a beautiful present to give to someone, but you’re helping someone else to pursue their love and passion, so it’s.a win-win.

Locally-made Self Care Health & Beauty

You don’t need a special day to take care of yourself and to treat yourself or someone you love. With a wide range of locally made self-care health & beauty products from Lo & Behold, Poppysol and Suki’s, you can find something that will improve your skin, improve your health, or improve your mood. If the last twelve months have taught us anything, it’s that you need to sometimes take time for yourself to stay healthy and happy.

Candles

You’ve got the wine, the oysters, the locally handmade gift…what else could set off a romantic evening or an evening of self-care? Candles! Scent and warm light are healing to the soul and to your emotional state. Candles can help you feel more calm, and they can set the mood all evening. The candles we carry are all made in North Carolina, and they’re bursting with scent from real ingredients. We have paraffin candles or soy candles, depending on your preference.

Greeting Cards

Emails and text messages are fine and all for quick communication, but for a long-lasting, personal way to tell someone how you feel, you still can’t beat hand-written cards. Digital communication may rule the world, but an email can’t be kept in a keepsake box for years, so when you need to remember what someone means to you, you can look back on those beautiful words that were once written to you with a pen to paper. I mean yeah, you can print an email out, but that’s not romantic.

Gift Cards

There are highly personal gifts because they’re monogrammed or exactly that one specific thing someone is looking for, and then there are personal gifts that are personal because they can be used exactly when they’re needed. Gift cards make amazing gifts– maybe you want to give someone the gift of Saxapahaw General Store food, but you want to give them the option of ordering whenever they want. Or perhaps you want to spread the love around to give the gift of healthy organic food, craft beer and locally made health and beauty all at the same time. Saxapahaw gift cards are good any time in the store, good for anything that we sell (other than gas). You can order gift certificates online, or in the store.