The People’s Emporium celebrates

ELIZABETHTOWN – The People’s Emporium held an open house downtown E-town Saturday and also coordinated it with Dwayne Miller’s birthday celebration.

The open house began at 9:30 a.m. and shut down around 5 p.m. The day was filled with activities that make the Emporium so special. From a craft workshop all day to free “face painting by Miranda” to a mini petting zoo featuring a miniature bunny.

In addition, there was a cornhole board drawing and a craft contest where 3 winners were chosen on Facebook to win $25 gift certificates.

“It was great,” Mary Miller said. “We’ve had Miranda here face painting, we’ve had cake and popcorn and we’ve had a little miniature bunny. We were supposed to have a miniature horse, but with the recent weather, they got muddy and smelly and we opted for the bunny who was called ‘Mr. Butters.’”

The bunny was provided by Brook Mortensen.

“It’s kind of funny,” Miller said. “I was going to do an open house and I told my husband it was going to be the 13th and he said, ‘oh, it’s my birthday.’ How convenient, and we made it a combination open house and birthday party. People have just enjoyed shopping and eating cake and we’ve been doing crafts today.”

The People’s Emporium is a shop that has everything from dishcloths that never grow sour to handmade woodworking creations that will never wear out.

Emporium. It can mean many things from a center of trade to a store carrying many kinds of merchandise to a grand center of trade as a bazaar. Perhaps Fortune.com best sums up the great trading center of Elizabethtown owned by Dwayne and Mary Miller.

“Those who endure will understand that the key to success, as it was for the great emporiums of old, is building lasting relationships, customer by customer.”

Nailed it. Not only the shop itself, but the way that the Millers treat their customers. One at a time. Like family. A member of their gang.

There are hand-painted local creations, handmade carved wooden treasures, dishcloths from across the ocean, metalwork, cornhole boards and about a million other things that can grab and hold your interest for hours.

“In January 2022 I was listening to an online sermon from Rick Warren,” she said. “He was talking about the different visions that we have. Different dreams. If it’s God-given, it’s going to meet certain criteria. One is going to be glorifying Him. One is going to be that have to depend on Him. It’s going to involve other people and it’s going to involve a lot of faith.”

The Millers know by the unfolding of this dream that they are right on time in the calling to open their shop and to be a ministry to Bladen County. It is still a work in progress and God himself only knows what it’s going to look like when it has come to fruition.

Mark DeLap is a journalist, photographer and the editor and general manager of the Bladen Journal. To email him, send a message to: mdelap@bladenjournal.com