Fresh-cut Fraser firs from the North Carolina mountains line the exterior of a red storefront in Pittsboro. Customers gather around a large basket on a table near the entrance — the same basket that has held cookies here every Saturday for 32 years. A frequent patron reaches for one while talking with co-owner Josh Miller about holiday preparations. Although the basket never changes, the flavors rotate weekly with offerings like chocolate chip, peanut butter with peanut butter chips, and soft molasses cookies rolled in sugar.

Christine and her son, Josh; daughter-in-law, Allie; and husband, David, run the feed shop together. photograph by Anna Routh Barzin

More than 30 years ago, while Christine Miller was packing a lunch for her husband, David, she found herself with leftover cookies. David set the cookies out for customers at their feed store in Michigan. The cookies were such a hit that Christine began baking them to share every Saturday. In 2005, when the couple bought Pittsboro Feed, a garden supply and animal provisions store, the tradition came to North Carolina.

At its peak, cookie day at Pittsboro Feed offered more than 100 cookies to customers. Since the pandemic, the tradition has settled to roughly 50 cookies each Saturday, available on a first-come, first-served basis. Christine, who makes the cookies, has become so skilled that she can eyeball one and instantly tell if it was made correctly — a skill that comes in handy as she and David prepare to pass the business, and this beloved tradition, to their son, Josh, and his wife, Allie. The young couple met at the shop that they’ll soon run, and they look forward to continuing to provide Pittsboro with its weekly dose of sweets.

Pittsboro Feed
1103 East Street
Pittsboro, NC 27312
(919) 542-2454
pittsborofeed.com