Aberdeen's Scottish Roots Just Got a Storefront. Here's Where Else the Highland Story Lives This Season.

"What better way to pay homage to the town's history?" That was Lindy Lamielle's question to The Sway when she explained why the shop she and her husband Ryan opened on West Main Street feels so Scottish. The shop is Old Town Mercantile. It opened on Thursday, Aug. 13, and the history she meant goes back to the Scottish Highlanders who settled this part of the Sandhills.

For most of Aberdeen's history, that heritage has lived out on Bethesda Road, at a farmhouse and an old meetinghouse you had to go looking for. Now it has a storefront downtown. This holiday season, the town's events run straight along the line between those places.

A Mercantile Again, More Than a Century Later

The building at 105 W. Main St. didn't become a mercantile by accident. According to The Sway, Lindy learned during the renovation that the building had first been used as a mercantile store in the early 1900s. The idea came together on a 2024 family trip to Scotland that included a stop in Aberdeen, Scotland. "The colors, the architecture, the shops, the dining – it all felt like home to me," she told The Sway.

So the shop brings back two things at once: the building's first use, and the story of the people who named the town. Pendleton Bell manages the store day to day.

The official grand opening was set for Saturday, Oct. 17, from 2 to 4 p.m., at Library Garden Park, 123 Exchange St. The event listing in The Pines Times billed it as a celebration honoring Aberdeen's Scottish Heritage Month. Keep that Exchange Street address in mind. It comes back in December.

What's on the Shelves at 105 W. Main

The opening-day writeup in The Sway listed stoneware, tweed bags, market provisions, a kids' section, gear for travel and adventure, novelty Scottish brands and products made in North Carolina. That mix of Highland imports and North Carolina goods matches the town itself.

The soft-opening hours of noon to 4 p.m., Thursday through Sunday, are out of date. The shop's own website now lists these hours, with a note that closing times can vary a little:

• Tuesday through Saturday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Sunday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Monday: closed

That makes it a weekday stop now, which matters with holiday shopping and the December calendar coming up.

The Corner That Came With It

Old Town Mercantile is one piece of a bigger restoration on that block. The Sway reported in January 2025 that the Lamielles had bought 103, 105 and 109 W. Main St. the previous September. The three buildings make up a long-vacant corner at W. Main and S. Sycamore streets. The couple had talked with the previous owner for two years before the purchase. They also own X on Main, a space they renovated across the street inside a building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

At the time, the corner building at 103 W. Main was split into two storefronts. Lindy said the other buildings needed significant work, and that the scope and timing of any major exterior work hadn't been set yet. "We have a transformative vision for all three properties and look forward to creating amazing spaces for future tenants to enjoy for years to come," she wrote in an email quoted by The Sway. The mercantile at 105 is the first of the three to open its doors.

The Older Addresses on Bethesda Road

The story the shop honors started miles from Main Street, and two places still hold it.

Malcolm Blue Farm, at 1177 Bethesda Road, centers on a farmhouse the Town of Aberdeen dates to 1825. According to the Town's page on the farm, Malcolm McMillan Blue was a farmer and civic leader whose father and grandfather came to North Carolina with the Highland Scots in the 1760s. The farm doesn't post regular visiting hours. The Town asks anyone who wants a tour to call Aberdeen Parks and Recreation to set one up. Its fall calendar has already been busy this year. The Malcolm Blue Festival ran Sept. 26, and Fall-O-Ween drew families on Oct. 24.

Old Bethesda is the second place, and it's tied to the first. Bethesda Presbyterian Church gives 1788 as its founding year. Malcolm Blue gave the land for the church's 1860 building and served as an elder for 40 years. PineStraw describes the historic meetinghouse and its cemetery on Bethesda Road and says the church was dedicated in 1862. Today the congregation worships at 1002 N. Sandhills Blvd.

The Holiday Calendar Follows the Same Route

From now through mid-December, Aberdeen's events land at almost every stop on that timeline. Library Garden Park, where the mercantile held its grand opening, shares the 123 Exchange Street address with Aberdeen Library, where the tree lighting happens. The farm that anchors the town's Scottish history hosts the season's last event.

1. Flavors of Scotland: Whisky, Wine, Fare & Cèilidh, today, Nov. 5, at the Fair Barn in Pinehurst. Scottish Heritage USA lists traditional Celtic fiddling and piping, an address to the haggis, Scottish country dancing and a cèilidh. Check the organizer's page for timing and details before you go.
2. Letters to Santa, running now through Dec. 1. Aberdeen Parks and Recreation is collecting letters at the Aberdeen Recreation Center, 301 Lake Park Crossing.
3. Christmas Tree Lighting, Thursday, Dec. 3, at 6:15 p.m., at Aberdeen Library, 123 Exchange St. Admission is free.
4. Aberdeen Christmas Parade, Saturday, Dec. 12, at 11 a.m., downtown. It's free to watch, and groups that want to march have until Dec. 4 to register.
5. Old Fashioned Christmas, Saturday, Dec. 12, from 1 to 5 p.m., at Malcolm Blue Farm, 1177 Bethesda Road. It's free, with the farmhouse decorated for the season, music, refreshments, museum access and children's activities.

On Dec. 12 you can do the whole route in one day. The parade steps off downtown at 11 a.m., and Old Fashioned Christmas opens at the 1825 farmhouse on Bethesda Road two hours later. Old Bethesda's 1860 meetinghouse sits on the same road, on land Malcolm Blue gave the church.

Old Town Mercantile picks up a thread that runs from the 1760s, through Bethesda Road, to the corner of West Main and Sycamore. If you'd like to talk about the historic blocks, farm roads or quiet corners of Aberdeen that suit the way you live, Jamie McDevitt would love to hear from you. Let's Connect.