The Elkin community has enjoyed the Saturday morning farmers market for two decades now, which is the Surry County Farmers Market group that also serves Mount Airy, Dobson and Pilot Mountain. Two Elkin businesses got their start at the market and now are now successful brick and mortar businesses in downtown Elkin. These two businesses are The Barking Coyote Kitchen, and The Barkery - Home of Melissa’s Natural Pet Treats.
Barking Coyote started at the Elkin Farmers Market in 2011 selling blueberries, baked goods, and most notably, fresh baked scones which they would bring from their commercial kitchen in Elkin to the farmers market tents early that morning. Over time, the town built a shelter for the farmers market, funded by the NC Tobacco Trust Fund grant, and they were able to expand their space and product selection a bit more. The owners of Barking Coyote, Rich Wooldredge and Jody Hartle, decided to lease a small building on West Main Street in downtown Elkin to start a permanent location for its dedicated customer base that had grown at the Elkin market. This location was only a few blocks from the farmers market so their customers didn’t have far to go. Hartle was still baking in their commercial kitchen off-site, and bringing carloads of delicious fresh baked items throughout the day to Wooldredge, who ran the cozy storefront on Main Street, just across from The Reeves Theater.
By this time, they were expanding their items to include fresh baked quiches, honey, breads, had a coffee bar, a chilled case for take-and-bake dinners and soups, and also expanded their baked goods to pies, brownies, cinnamon buns and more. With business growing quickly, they had some outdoor table seating available, but realized they were quickly outgrowing their small 20’ x 18’ space, and began looking for a new location where they could add an on-site kitchen, more display areas, potential indoor seating and a larger outdoor patio with lots of seating.
Finally in 2018, they purchased a little building at 205 South Bridge St., and completed a full renovation outside and inside, adding a large outdoor patio with seating adjacent to the back of the building. They landscaped their property and now the trees are growing, flowers are blooming, and the shaded patio out back is one of Elkin’s favorite outdoor lunch spots which overlooks Crater Park. Their growing menu now includes panini sandwiches for lunches Wednesday through Saturday, and their daily supply of take and bake items has expanded to fit demand.
"When we started participating in the Surry County Farmers' Market in 2011, we had no idea that over the years we would become part of such a wonderful community," the couple said. "We have been very fortunate to have the support, friendship, and kindness of so many people, and though it may sound like a cliché, we wouldn't be where we are today without these awesome folks.”
The second business, The Barkery - Home of Melissa’s Natural Pet Treats, started much in the same way. Owner Melissa Manning started baking two flavors of pet treats and became a vendor at the Elkin Farmers Market in 2016 after starting her business one year earlier. She quickly began building her customer base, as many residents in Elkin would walk their dogs to the Farmers Market on Saturdays, and come home with treat bags from her booth. Manning's options grew with kitty treats, cap nip, and she began incorporating pet accessories such as bandanas, sweaters, bows for collars, and more. Manning's business was growing so quickly, she knew a larger kitchen area would be needed to expand her sales, and she began leasing a space downtown at 150 E Market St., one block east of the farmers market location. She baked here full-time, but also created a small retail space filled with some fun pet accessories and gifts.
Manning soon had the opportunity to expand her location into an adjoining rental space in the same building. The Smoothie Shop next door was relocating into Dirty Joe’s Coffee, so she took over that space and add a separate, larger retail space, leaving the smaller original location to expand bakery needs. Manning and her husband David renovated the interior next door and created an adorable, spacious, pet-friendly retail store filled with new and exciting flavors of dog and cat treats, bones, antlers, pup ice-cream, dried sweet potatoes and apples, collars, leashes and she also makes PupCakes for celebrations. She added an outdoor doggie water bar at the shop’s entrance, and it’s on display for dog walkers during open hours.
Recently, the final retail space in her building became available for her to expand further. Manning has heard that many locals are asking for a small pet store that will offer more pet items for pet lovers in the community. She is ready for the task, and is taking over the final space in the building to expand to a full 1000 square feet of retail and bakery space, and will be investing in additional retail items to open by August 2024. Although Manning is no longer at the Elkin Farmers Market since her retail store is only a block away she has now expanded her sales into adjoining counties, selling her products across North Carolina with her mobile operation.
“My time as a vendor at the Elkin Farmers Market was invaluable, it offered me the ability to connect weekly with the pet lovers here in the Elkin area and beyond via the out of town visitors to our area. This allowed me to experiment new flavors and offerings and get immediate customer feedback which pushed me to further expand my brand’s line up, of course all in accordance with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture Animal Feed Laws. I can’t thank the Elkin community enough for the support and allowing me to truly fulfill my entrepreneurial dreams," said Manning.
Laura Gaylord, Main Street & Community Manager, said, “It’s been an honor to watch these two businesses grow over the past decade. I remember the early days at the farmers market, and how dedicated both vendors were — always striving to provide excellent products and great customer service, while growing their list of dedicated customers who were excited to see them do well. It’s amazing what each has accomplished over the years, but they are a great lesson for all to learn from. They are both excellent success stories about a dream that started small, selling at a farmers market, not knowing where it might take them, then finding their place in a community excited to support them as they grew. We’re very lucky that both businesses decided to stay in downtown Elkin and grow here with us. We also hope the community continues to support the current vendors at our farmers market as that has grown from an eight vendor market to a 65+ vendor market since 2012. We’d love to see another business venture out and expand into our downtown in the future.”
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