Owners: Kelli Billingsley & Mark Mangum
By Ann Marie Byrd, Feature Writer
If you love North Carolina (and I know that you do), then prepare to get addicted to the delicious, stylish, adorable and hilarious products sold at the Made in NC store, located at 1409 Tatum Drive, next to the Piggly Wiggly.
This unique store offers one-stop shopping for goods that are developed or manufactured in NC—or more loosely interpreted, products that benefit NC in some sort of financial way, by providing revenue or jobs for people in North Carolina.
The result is a carefully curated collection of NC items that range from gourmet foods, home goods, bath products, clothing, jewelry, pet products, kitchen items, pottery and much more.
“The initial concept for the store began at Galley Stores, located next to Persimmons, when a customer came in and requested that we create gift baskets filled exclusively with North Carolina products,” says Kelli Billingsley, co-owner of Made in NC. “The idea took off, and we started making gift baskets regularly. Eventually we decided to create a separate company with NC products only.”
The beautifully arranged and presented retail space at the front of the store provides an absolutely dreamy selection of NC products, but the true drive of the business is focused on gifting. They specialize in corporate gifting, wedding or bridesmaids gifts, and personalized gift baskets. Need 1700 gift baskets at Christmas time for all your employees? They can do that.
After 20 years in the banking industry, Mark Mangum switched gears and opened Galley Stores on the waterfront in downtown New Bern. The move provided him more time to spend with his family, participating in Centenary Church, and volunteering on multiple boards. Kelli, who was born and raised in New Bern, attended Meredith College where she majored in mathematics and accounting. She and her family moved back to New Bern after their daughter was born to be closer to their family. Like Mark, Kelli started in a different work world but transitioned to working at Galley Stores, where they teamed up and Made in NC was born. Kelli and Mark are both dedicated to supporting their community and specifically to NC small businesses.
“We started reaching out to vendors, getting to know the products, and, more importantly, getting to know the people. We learned about their passions, motivations, desires, and drive that led them to leave their full-time jobs and take the risk of starting their own small businesses. We become friends with the people behind the products. We want to share these people, experiences, and products from North Carolina with our community.”