You open the front door of Madison Dry Goods and Country Store using the shop’s original 1908 handle. As you step onto the creaky wood floor, you smell cinnamon and brown sugar, hear the twang of bluegrass music playing over the speakers, and see local antiques lining the shelves. “When you walk in the door, you’re touching and you’re hearing and you’re feeling history,” says owner Michael “Smitty” Smith. “It’s a completely immersive experience.”
Smith, who grew up in nearby Stokesdale and went to school in Madison, has fond memories of visiting Madison Dry Goods as a child. When he moved back home after college, the history buff started researching the 1929 Lawson family tragedy, a local murder story recounted in the store’s upstairs museum. He soon kindled a friendship with owner Richard Miller and began stopping by to talk with him for “hours on end,” Smith says. The pair would chat about local history as well as the history of the building, which was constructed in 1908 as Penn Hardware and lived several lives before Miller and his wife, Kathy, opened their country store in 1995. When Miller mentioned that they planned to retire, Smith knew he wanted to continue their legacy.
Still, when Smith bought the business, he made a few changes. He invited his childhood friend Jennifer Briggs to open a restaurant inside; added vendor booths for antiques, pottery, and woodworks; and expanded the museum. He also began inviting local bluegrass musicians to perform. But he was mindful: “I didn’t want to change the experience that people had when they came in, because it’s been such a staple,” he says.
Some shop for clothing, toys, or classic country foods — like tomato jam and muscadine syrup. Others peruse the antiques or the local history museum. Many regulars come by just to shoot the breeze with Smith, the way he once did with Miller. And, of course, the scent of cinnamon rolls, meatloaf, and sourdough bread wafting out onto West Murphy Street lures its fair share of passersby, who stop in for a bite at Briggs Family Kitchen & Bakery inside the store.
Before Smith reached out to her, Briggs was a truck driver who spent her evenings baking cookies and cakes. She learned to cook from her parents and her grandmother, and when customers see menu items like Grandma Shay’s Banana Pudding, it sparks questions. “I’m always excited to sit down and tell them all about her,” she says…