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Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff started as a business in 1985, operating as a single shelf of art supplies in Boone’s Drugs. The western North Carolina owned and operated company has since opened two locations in their hometown of Boone, and one retail store in Charlotte. Artists all over the world shop cheapjoes.com for affordably priced, high quality art supplies. Soon, Asheville residents will get to shop at Cheap Joe’s in person when they open their 7,000 square foot retail location in the River Arts District.
“We’ve been eyeing Asheville for over 5 years,” marketing manager Brian Dubberly tells us. “There were some retail stores in the area, and we did not want to come in stepping on any toes.” So how did Cheap Joe’s come to finally open a store here in Asheville?
“We’d been eyeing Asheville because of its artistic feel, and we were sitting around a table determining a location for a new art supply store when the universe revealed an article about the artist population of Asheville. Then a Facebook page emerged — “Bring Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff to Asheville.” We didn’t feel any of this was a circumstantial intervention so we decided to run with it!” Dubberly says. “And really, the RAD is the only place to be if you’re any artist in Asheville. So, we wanted to stay close to our kind and be a convenient outlet for them.”
Cheap Joe’s is hoping to open in the River Arts District by the end of the month. Currently, they are awaiting final permitting before being allowed to move product in. The store is eager to open and start serving Asheville customers, and fixtures have already been installed.
Prior to Cheap Joe’s, Asheville area artists were limited in their ability to have purchase art supplies locally. Asheville is currently home to several chain craft stores, but locally owned and operated store True Blue closed on May 9th in 2014, leaving customers with few alternatives. With Hobby Lobby joining the strip of stores on Airport Road in 2016, residents are excited that Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff will offer an independent alternative.
Watch this space for more information on Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff, including opening dates and times, coming soon.
As a newcomer to your site (and to Asheville), I am enjoying reading your articles and finding about about all kinds of great stuff. Case in point: Cheap Joe’s is coming to Asheville! Hurrah. My only complaint is that I had to go back to your home page and look at the “Recent Posts” display to see when this article was posted. There is a reference to the shop possibly opening “at the end of the month.” Without a dateline, especially if this post rolls off the “Recent” roster, I have no idea what month that might be.
Thanks for listening and for your insight on Asheville!