NC’s largest yard sale returns this weekend. Here’s what to know if you want to go.
If you live in North Carolina and are a fan of yard sales, flea markets, antiques, unique gadgets and shopping of any kind, this upcoming weekend is the one for you.
The 301 Endless Yard Sale — the longest yard sale in the state and among the largest in the world — is returning to North Carolina this weekend.
Here are details:
What is the 301 Endless Yard Sale?
The 301 Endless Yard Sale, held annually the third weekend of June, stretches for over 100 miles on Historic U.S. Route 301. This year, it will take place on June 16 and 17 and run from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. both days.
Spanning from Weldon to Dunn, it is hosted by multiple towns in five North Carolina counties along the highway — Johnston, Halifax, Wilson, Nash and Harnett. According to the Johnston County Visitors Bureau’s website, the event is intended to spark economic activity along the highway and is organized by the five destination marketing organizations along 301.
The sale features booths set up at locations along the route. The organizing bodies and the towns do not have control over which booths are set up and instead, private businesses and landowners along the highway rent out booth spaces to vendors.
These booths are in a variety of locations, including business parking lots, side streets near the route, homes and pastures and fields in the more rural areas.
The 301 Endless Yard Sale does keep an updated list of which vendors are selling in each county. Ashby Brame, the director of marketing and communications for the Johnson County Visitor’s Bureau, said it is important to note that the maps do not account for booths at private residences, so there will likely be more vendors than listed.
How did the sale get started?
The sale was started 12 years ago and originally held only in Selma, in Johnston County, before expanding to the four other counties the next year. Brame said the sale was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic but returned for the summers of 2021 and 2022.
The event was the brainchild of Johnson County resident Tommy Abdalla, who often travels to antique sales, vintage sales and yard sales across the country. Abdalla was inspired by large yard sale events in other states, Brame said. At the time, there were about 15 antique stores in Selma, which made it a prime location to hold the first event, according to Brame.
One of the events the 301 sale takes inspiration from is the 690-mile 127 Yard Sale — as in U.S. Highway 127 — that stretches from Alabama to Michigan. The North Carolina event is also inspired in part by the HGTV series “Flea Market Flip.”
Where can visitors park?
Some areas of the sale may limit parking to driveways, while attendees can park roadside in others. The organizers advise visitors to make sure their cars are safely parked off of the road. The highway will still be open for the entirety of the two-day sale and regular traffic laws will remain in place.
Brame emphasized that the sale urges visitors to drive slowly and cautiously, watch for pedestrians along the route and not try to look at items while still in the car.
How long will it take to visit?
The length of time you spend at the sale is up to you. The sale suggests pre-planning a route using its vendor map and deciding how much time to spend at each location. Visitors can travel south to north from Dunn to Weldon, north to south from Weldon to Dunn or enter anywhere in between using connecting routes onto U.S. Highway 301.
What can you purchase while there?
The sale features clothes, kitchen appliances, vintage records, other antiques and toys. Each county keeps a list of participating vendors that shoppers can look at ahead of time or during the event.
In Halifax county, there three towns currently have vendors listed on the map — Weldon, Halifax and Enfield.
Wilson County’s vendors also will be in three towns — Elm City, Wilson and Lucama.
Johnston County has the most listed vendors, with 27 offerings spread among Kenly, Micro, Selma, Smithfield, Four Oaks and Benson.
Nash County has 14 listed vendors registered in and outside Rocky Mount.
Harnett County has seven locations showing up in Dunn.
How does this impact economic development in the state?
Brame said the sale is tied directly to the history of U.S. Highway 301, which was the major north-south thoroughfare along the East Coast before the construction of Interstate 95.
“There are a lot of historic, locally owned businesses on 301 that are kind of off the main drag, now that everyone travels on I-95,” she said. “And so, we really like doing this event because of the economic vitality that it brings.”
Even though the sale is only two days, vendors often come to town early to set up and many visitors and vendors stay in the area until Sunday night, Brame said. In addition to hotels, the Friday and Saturday of the sale are some of the biggest days of the year for convenience stores, restaurants and mom-and-pop shops along the highway.
“So it’s really great for the local economy, especially for locally owned businesses that are right along the route,” she said.
Is there anything else to know?
According to the sale’s website, many towns have shipping centers and Post Offices and will work with visitors to ship items if they will not fit into a vehicle.
Brame said since it is likely to be warm, it is a good idea to drink water throughout the day and bring sunscreen and bug spray. She also recommends that shoppers bring cash, because not every vendor will be able to accept credit or debit cards or forms of mobile payment.
Brame said overall, the sale is looking forward to a big year.
“People are really looking to get out and travel and so we think this is going to be a really good year for us,” she said.
For more details, go to johnstoncountync.org/301-endless-yard-sale.
