The Catawba Region is Couched in Retail
Published May 27, 2009
Catawba County boasts some 2 million square feet of retail space devoted to furniture and home accessories, that draws savvy shoppers by the thousands.
The four-level Hickory Furniture Mart features more than 100 outlets offering furnishings, lighting and other home accessories. The two-level Catawba Furniture Mall includes eight acres of showroom space for furniture and home decor.
The famed 20-mile stretch of stores along U.S. Highway 321 from Hickory to Lenoir includes numerous outlets for well-known furniture manufacturers such as Broyhill, Kincaid and Thomasville.
Stuck on Success
Hickory-based Shurtape Technologies is a world leader in foil and film tape, packaging tape, double-coated tape, cloth tape and duct tape. Since 1999, Shurtape has invested more than $50 million in new technology, equipment and expansion of its manufacturing space, and has created a research-and-development lab in North Carolina. For more, go to www.shurtape.com.
In the Swing of Things
For those who like their professional golf with just a touch of gray, the PGA Champions Tour makes a stop in Catawba County for the Greater Hickory Golf Classic, played at the 7,046-yard Rock Barn Golf & Spa in Conover.
The event, entering its seventh season, has raised some $600,000 for local charities and draws 80,000 to 90,000 spectators each year. R.W. Eaks has won the tournament in
its last two years.
The 2009 tournament is set for Sept. 14-20. For more information on the event, go to www.greaterhickoryclassic.com.
The Cars Are the Stars
Hickory Motor Speedway has been a racing fixture in Catawba County for nearly 60 years.
The .363-mile “bullring” track lays claim as the oldest continually operated motor speedway in the country.
On Saturdays from mid-March through October, the track is alive with the sounds of roaring engines and roaring crowds to watch late-model stock cars, street stock, trucks and hobby cars race – and perhaps get a glimpse of a future NASCAR star. For more information, go to www.hickorymotorspeedway.com.
An Economy High in Fiber
Some 50 percent of all the fiber-optic cable made in North America comes from Catawba County. Major producers CommScope, Corning Cable Systems and Draka Communications have operations in the region that employ 3,000. Catawba’s infrastructure, transportation access, quality technical schools and trained workforce make it a good fit for fiber production.
The Way it Was
For a glimpse into Catawba County’s past, visit the Murray’s Mill complex along the banks of Balls Creek. The Murray family first operated a mill on the site in 1883.
Preserved intact are a 1913 mill, the 1890s-era Murray & Minges General Store, the 1880s-era wheathouse, used as an exhibit gallery, and the 1913 John Murray House, furnished to the period.
The structures and surrounding land have been preserved and interpreted by the Catawba County Historical Association since 1980. Go to www.catawbahistory.org/historic_murrays_mill.php for more.
Gem of an Attraction
The Emerald Hollow Mine in Hiddenite bills itself as the only emerald mine in the United States open to the public for prospecting.
Emerald Hollow boasts more than 60 types of naturally occurring gems and minerals.
Visitors can try their luck sluicing, creeking and digging to unearth emeralds, sapphires, garnets, topaz and other gems, along with an abundance of smoky and clear-quartz crystals. For more information, go to hiddenit.ipower.com.
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