A decade in the dirt
Mellie Mac’s Garden Shack celebrates 10 years
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
May 15, 2021
Mellie Macsherry, who opened Mellie Mac’s Garden Shack in 2011, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the garden center, May 15. Photo by Fred McCormick
Mellie Macsherry’s passion is rooted in the dirt, where she has planted countless flowers, shrubs and trees over more than 30 years in gardening and landscaping. Her approach to cultivating her Black Mountain business borrowed heavily from traits she honed working in the soil, and over time it blossomed into a unique fixture in the community.
In 2011, Macsherry bought the former Mason’s Lawn and Garden Center on State Street with a vision to create an eclectic space that was as inviting to families and friends as it was to the local gardening community. As Mellie Mac’s Garden Shack celebrates its 10th anniversary, Saturday, May 15, it’s become that and much more in its new location on Black Mountain Avenue.
Macsherry had already acquired a lifetime of experience in nature by the time she entered the business world a decade ago, but her entrepreneurial journey represented uncharted territory.
“I was pregnant with my fourth child, and Mary Glenn Mason told me that if I didn’t buy the business she was ready to close it down,” she said. “I felt like I was going to miss out if I didn’t do it.”
At the time, Macsherry had been overseeing the grounds and waste management departments at Ridgecrest Conference Center for nearly five years. She was a regular customer at Mason’s when the previous owner told her she was ready to sell the business after 19 years.
“Once you’re done, you’re done, and I understand that,” Macsherry said. “This is very hard work, and it’s a labor of love. Nothing about it is easy.”
One year ago, Mellie Mac’s Garden Shack opened in a new location on Black Mountain Avenue after operating on West State Street for nine years. Photo by Fred McCormick
After a season of working with Mason, observing the daily operations of the garden center, Macsherry was ready to pursue her passion.
“It was already an established and well-respected business, and it was something I truly loved,” she said. “I was excited to see what it could become.”
Macsherry moved to Black Mountain in 2006, seven years after through-hiking the Appalachian Trail. Her interest in plants began in 1990 when she was a student in Oxford, Mississippi.
“When in college at Ole Miss, I started working at a greenhouse there while going to school,” she said. “That’s really where it all started for me. Then, in 1999 when I hiked the Appalachian Trail, I met a botanist and we hiked together for about four days. He taught me about so many native plants, and I really started to geek out on native plants.”
After living in Wolf Laurel, where she was a landscaper and ski instructor for several years, Macsherry settled in Black Mountain. When she opened Mellie Mac’s, she was committed to serving the previous business’s existing clients, but five years later the economy forced her to adapt.
“It was a struggle those first five years, but one day a customer said I should open a wine bar,” she said. “I took the plunge and went for it, but it was very low-budget. The whole purpose of that was to help keep my gardening business going.”
The addition did much more.
“Interestingly enough, the wine bar didn’t really make a lot of money, but it really helped the garden shop,” Macsherry said. “While they were separate businesses, the wine bar supported the garden shop and the garden shop supported the wine bar.”
As longtime gardening customers continued to patronize Mellie Mac’s, the setting became a destination for friends, neighbors and families who wanted to unwind in a relaxing atmosphere.
Over the past decade, Mellie Mac’s Garden Shack has become a destination for gardeners of all skill levels. The Black Mountain business will celebrate its 10th anniversary, May 15. Photo by Fred McCormick
“I really wanted to get to know everyone in town,” Macsherry said. “I brought in rabbits, we had a kid’s section and people would come spend the evening talking and drinking wine while their children played together. It really kind of took things to a whole different level.”
As Mellie Mac’s grew, Macsherry began to consider expansion, and in 2019 she bought a lot at the intersection of Black Mountain Avenue and Terry Estate Drive. Facing a substantial rent increase in the spring of 2020, “I knew I had to go,” she said.
The relationships she nurtured over nine years in her previous location led to tremendous support for her new one.
“The Black Mountain Beautification Committee came in and offered to help me move,” Macsherry said. “It was early in the COVID-19 pandemic, we had 12 drivers, and everyone was masked and remained in their cars. We had six people here and six there, and they moved everything within a day. We are so blessed with the volunteers we have in this town, those people were truly amazing.”
When she opened her new location a year ago, with no wine bar or event space, it felt like she was getting back to her roots, but there was a nagging question after her abrupt exit from her longtime location.
“I was nervous because I didn’t know if the customers and people would follow me from the old place to this one,” Macsherry said. “I knew this new place was a work in progress, but the support I’ve received since then is really what’s made me realize that this community loves me.”
In addition to plants, soil and gardening supplies, Mellie Macsherry offers a selection of hand-made crafts in small showroom in her garden center. Photo by Fred McCormick
Macsherry will celebrate a year at 204 Black Mountain Avenue and 10 years of Mellie Mac’s, Saturday, with 10% off all plants. Free wine and cheese will be available between 2 - 6 p.m., with music and additional festivities to mark the occasion.
“This new place has made me fall in love with the garden center all over again,” she said. “I can’t wait to thank this community for everything it’s done for me and Mellie Mac’s.”