In 1999 John & Barbara Norman were operating an old-time general store in their hometown of East Bend. Looking for an effective way to tell folks about the store, here’s an idea… expand the store newsletter to a magazine format, promoting the store, but also area points of interest as well as other neighborhood stores.
Over the next year the couple worked on the idea and were lucky enough to find a firm in the nearby town of Boonville to help understand the complexities of desktop publishing. In September of 2000, the magazine known as Yadkin Valley Living launched, found a niche, and took off!
The couple wound up closing their retail store to devote full effort to the publication.
Barbara’s background in high school/elementary teaching and Library Science combined with John’s long career in radio advertising sales led to a strong editorial and business foundation that now, nearly two decades later, continues to grow. The magazine has a wonderful team of contributors who pack the issues with page after page of locally produced content.
The magazine operated for many years in what was a horse barn, turned offices, in the middle of the Norman family farm. Today the company is in “downtown” East Bend in a 1904 farmhouse that offers plenty of office room to grow. The out in the country feel and theme to the magazine continues to celebrate home and garden, family, inspiring stories and great Southern Foods.
In March of 2017, the magazine earned a new name: Yadkin Valley Magazine! A name that symbolizes exactly what it is, the Yadkin Valley’s regional magazine.
It seems that readers can’t wait to get their hands on every issue, discovering good people doing good things in a beautiful place, North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley.
To read the latest and past issues, just click on the logo below.
