Great Smokey Mountain Bait and Tackle aka Jack’s, owned by Jackie Parton, is a staple in Bryson City, family owned and operated for nearly 30 years.
A 1965 Swain High graduate, Jack Parton and his wife, Joanne, returned to the area upon retirement from Duke Energy. They purchased the store from Floyd Brooks on Feb. 13, 1997.
“It was just a small bait and tackle,” said Jackie Parton, who took over for her father three years ago. “We’ve grown it a lot.”
Parton casually made her way into the store’s new addition, carrying feed for a customer along the way.
In May, Jack’s doubled in size to become an approximate 6,000-square-foot hunting, fishing and tackle, convenience store. The roughly 3,600-square-foot addition is where Parton, along with her immediate and employed family members, keep hunting gear, apparel, fishing poles, beverages, etc.
“We were running out of room,” Parton said.
Bait, hunting tags, fishing licenses, ammunition, snacks, among other outdoor essentials are sold on the original side.
The store’s growth has been made possible by its “regulars” and longtime customers.
“Locals keep this going in the winter,” Parton said. “They go back there and drink coffee. We’ll bring them donuts and sandwiches. Dad always said it was the best advertisement you’d ever get.”
Staff could be heard laughing in the background, hanging Christmas décor and deer mounts.
“They (the Parton’s) are good people,” said Emily Shuler, employee. “They do lots for the community, but they will never say that. They give to Head Start, athletics and Jack is a Shriner.”
Shuler also worked for the Parton’s years ago as a teenager and returned. She described the workplace as family.
“We do some serious pranking, here,” Shuler added.
Haley Barker, employee of five years, chimed in to share one of those pranks. Barker said she once lined up the bubble gum machine, “Smoky Mountain Times” newspaper stand and three trash cans from the door to the bathroom so that when a highly organized employee walked in to open the store at 4:30 a.m., she would be in for a real shock.
“We hide toy rats places,” Barker added with a grin.
Parton’s son, Skye Woodard, grew up in the store, surrounded by anglers and hunters.
He brought in an 11-point buck mount to display in the new section of the store. The whitetail was shot with a compound bow in mid-October. His friend, Corbin Cochran, displayed his 8-point mount next to it. Cochran shot his deer with a crossbow that same day.
Employee Amber Walker shared the story of shooting her 215-pound black bear with a 450 Bushmaster on her birthday, Oct. 31.
Toward the back of the store is a wall covered in three decades of worth of tales from the great outdoors of Swain County… hunters with their trout, turkey, bear, whitetail… you name it.
All sorts of stories are shared by the locals and employees at Jack’s, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days per week. Visitors are always welcome and experience everything Great Smokey Mountain Bait and Tackle has to offer.