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W H I M S I C A L LY W E I R D A N D
WONDERFUL ABOVE Carlos Sanchez serves beers to Darlene Earnhardt and her husband, Allison Earnhardt, inside Fair Game Beverage Company. RIGHT The Earnhardts stroll through the Chatham Beverage District at The Plant with Farid Lazaro, their daughter Lindsay Earnhardt and family pup, Tucker.
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CHATHAM MAGAZINE
AN ECLECTIC COMMUNITY OF LOCAL BUSINESSES CREATE A NICHE FOR SUCCESS
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BY ANNA-RHESA VERSOLA
r. Seuss once asked rhetorically, “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” Drive down Lorax Lane in Pittsboro and discover a world where the founders of The Plant developed a winning formula for businesses. “Local is our big focus, and many of the businesses
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2022
are family run, which makes me happy to see the next generation learning from their parents,” says Tami Schwerin, who co-founded The Plant with Lyle Estill and Lyle’s late brother, Mark Estill, in 2004. Tami and Lyle’s son, Arlo Estill, helps manage operations on-site and has his own business, Hempsmith Clothing Co. Of the 18 businesses at The Plant, BMC Brewing, Fair Game Beverage Company and Copeland Springs Farm & Kitchen’s chef and owner Kristin Bulpitt were named favorites by readers of Chatham Magazine. The Plant itself was voted one of the best event spaces, and the Chatham Beverage District was named a best live music venue. “There are a lot of different businesses here, and we each specialize in our own thing,” Kristin says. “There is a living, breathing, passionate human behind each business here, and I think it shows. I think success will come from never getting comfortable and assuming ‘we made it’ just because customers are here today. We should always be working to improve and impress and to keep our customers coming back, because we are a great place to visit!” The Plant is also home to Carolina Hemp Tours, Chatham Axes, Metal Brixx Cafe and Pittsboro eBikes, all owned by Kalim Hasan. Other businesses and organizations include Abundance NC, Cataleya Jewelry Studio, EcoBlend, Oak City Hemp, Smelt Art Gallery, TickWarriors, Vita Mielie and Webb Squared.
A BRIEF HISTORY
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n 1946, about two dozen acres north of Robeson Creek were tilled to grow 25-by500-foot rows of chrysanthemums for Sunshine Gardens, one of the country’s most prolific floriculture operations in the mid-20th century, according to author Roy A. Larson. At its peak, the farm would have produced more than 212 tons of bronze, yellow, white and pink flowers, according to field supervisor Horace Clegg in an undated newspaper interview with News & Observer columnist Jack Aulis.