Dylan Locke has been producing music, performing arts and educational outreach programs for the last 30 years. He is the co-owner of the 100-year-old Floyd Country Store in Floyd, Virginia, along with his wife, Heather Krantz. Locke also serves as executive director of Floyd Creative Studios, a nonprofit that operates the Handmade Music School, dedicated to teaching traditional music and dance of the region. He also owns County Sales Records Store, the world’s largest selection of old time and bluegrass music, serving music lovers since 1965. Both the Floyd Country Store and County Sales are major venues on Virginia’s Crooked Road Heritage Music Trail.
Today, there are few places that can provide nostalgic memories like that of the old-fashioned general store. People have fond memories of family shopping trips, penny candies and time spent around the pot-belly stove in the winter, or of sitting on the store porch in the summer. Along with other small town focal points, such as the school, church, and courthouse, the country store was the life-blood of the community.
Not many old country stores continue to play the role of a community gathering place. This realization makes us reflect on the importance of a place like The Floyd Country Store in Floyd, Virginia. The Floyd Country Store, and more specifically the building it inhabits, has been anchored in downtown Floyd since the early 1900s. It took on another role in the early 1980s, when it was known as Cockram’s General Store: a place for the community to gather, play music and dance. In 2019, we celebrate the 35th anniversary of this tradition, which came to be known as The Friday Night Jamboree.
As owners of The Floyd Country Store and dedicated neighbors, we value the importance of The Floyd Country Store as a space that serves our community. We think a lot about the idea of holding space. To hold space for another person is to welcome them in, listen to them and understand their perspectives. We strive to practice empathy and compassion and accept people, even if their opinions differ from our own. Similarly, we think of providing a wonderfully warm place where people from our community and visitors from all around the world come together and enjoy the music, dance, tell their stories and enjoy being together. It is unassuming. It is human-ness at it’s best. It’s simple and genuine, wonderful and refreshing.
In a time where the “mom and pop” grocery store has been overtaken by Dollar Generals and Family Dollars, The Floyd Country Store stands proud in a community that is brave and clever enough to adapt to declining manufacturing jobs. Floyd builds on its values of farming and craftmanship and thrives upon a “creative economy.” The Floyd Country Store has been a constant in the old and current-day Floyd.
Spending the past five years at The Floyd Country Store has helped my wife and me understand the power of community gathering spaces—venues that hold a special place in the hearts of the local community. It reminds us of a simpler time, when people came together to play music or dance, talk about their family or things of interest. There is a sincerity and nurturing quality that makes people feel cared for and important. Where they meet old friends and new friends and have fond memories of loved ones gone who also spent their time here.
In a world where things aren’t made to last anymore, the lasting power of The Floyd Country Store is a sign of why “holding this space” for our community is important. Come join us!
The story above appears in our January/February 2020 issue.
