Hospitality in Boone is about much more than giving visitors a place to sleep. A memorable stay depends on the restaurants, shops, recreation, events, and community relationships that shape a visitor’s entire experience in the High Country.

Danielle Neibaur, who manages The Horton Hotel and The Inn at Crestwood, joins James and Jamie to discuss her path into hospitality and the unique experiences independent hotels create. She also explores seasonality, hotel pricing, App State’s influence, workforce recruitment, and the challenge of supporting hospitality employees who cannot afford to live where they work. Danielle shares how the community came together to relocate a wedding during Hurricane Helene and why Boone’s collaborative spirit remains one of its greatest strengths.

In this episode:

• How independent hotels create experiences rooted in their locations
• Why hotels depend on surrounding restaurants, businesses, and attractions
• How App State, seasonality and major events influence Boone’s hospitality economy
• The workforce and housing challenges facing local tourism businesses
• What Hurricane Helene revealed about the High Country’s resilience

Join the conversation: How can Boone support a strong tourism economy while also supporting the people and businesses that make the visitor experience possible?

Follow Boone Tea for thoughtful conversations about the people, places, and decisions shaping Boone and the High Country. Help us broaden the conversation: share this episode and tell us what we should explore next.

Links:

Explore Boone

Boone never stands still. Since the Boone Tea Podcast began, housing prices, downtown projects, university enrollment, tourism and development policies have continued to change while some of the community’s most difficult challenges remain unresolved.

James and Jamie revisit several of the issues explored in earlier episodes and examine what has changed. They discuss housing affordability, the Howard Street revitalization project, the pressures facing downtown businesses, App State’s declining Boone-campus enrollment and the potential effects on student housing. They also explore development fees, October tourism, parking requirements, public transportation and the decisions shaping Boone’s future.

In this episode:

• Why housing affordability remains one of Watauga County’s greatest challenges
• How the Howard Street project is affecting downtown businesses
• What declining Boone-campus enrollment could mean for student housing and rents
• How development fees and changing parking requirements influence new projects
• Why fall tourism, local spending and transportation matter to Boone’s economy

Join the conversation: Which of Boone’s challenges has changed the most and where do you think the community is making meaningful progress?

Follow Boone Tea for thoughtful conversations about the people, places, and decisions shaping Boone and the High Country. Help us broaden the conversation: share this episode and tell us what we should explore next.

#ShareLocalThursday

Opening a cozy restaurant in Downtown Boone sounds simple: find the perfect space, create an inviting atmosphere, and start serving great food. But what happens between the initial idea and opening day?

Jamie puts James on the spot with a fictional French restaurant called Le Watauga. Together, they walk through the realities of bringing the concept to life. From finding commercial space and negotiating a lease to funding the buildout, securing permits, hiring employees, and managing narrow restaurant margins. Along the way, they explore why second-generation restaurant space is so valuable, how parking affects both customers and employees, and what it takes for a local restaurant to succeed in the High Country.

In this episode:

• How restaurant operators find and evaluate commercial space
• Why second-generation restaurant space can dramatically reduce startup costs
• How leases, tenant improvement allowances and buildout periods are structured
• The construction, equipment and permitting challenges behind opening a restaurant
• How labor, narrow margins and parking affect restaurant success in Downtown Boone

Join the conversation: What makes you return to a local restaurant? What new dining concept would you like to see in Boone?

Follow Boone Tea for thoughtful conversations about the people, places, and decisions shaping Boone and the High Country. Help us broaden the conversation: share this episode and tell us what we should explore next.

For more than a century, Boone Drug has adapted to enormous changes in healthcare while remaining committed to the relationships and values that earned the community’s trust. Corey Furman, President of Boone Drug, joins James and Jamie to share how the company grew from one downtown Boone pharmacy into a regional independent pharmacy organization serving communities throughout the High Country and beyond.

Corey discusses the challenges facing independent pharmacies, the often-unseen influence of pharmacy benefit managers, and the essential role pharmacists play in rural healthcare. He also reflects on Boone Drug’s at-cost COVID testing program, the importance of treating every customer with dignity and respect, and why long-term community relationships matter more than short-term gains.

In this episode:

• How Boone Drug has evolved since its founding in 1919
• Why relationships and personal service remain central to the company
• The pressures pharmacy benefit managers place on independent pharmacies and their customers
• How local pharmacists expand access to healthcare in rural communities
• Why Boone Drug views community involvement as part of its identity
• How enduring values can guide a business through changing technology, services, and customer needs

Join the conversation: What local business has earned your trust across generations and what has allowed that relationship to endure?

Follow Boone Tea for thoughtful conversations about the people, places, and decisions shaping Boone and the High Country. Help us broaden the conversation: share this episode and tell us what we should explore next.

Links:

• Boone Drug

Appalachian State University is one of Boone’s most important economic and cultural institutions, but its growth also affects housing, traffic, infrastructure, development and the cost of doing business throughout the community.

James and Jamie examine how App State and Boone have grown together, how university activity influences the local population and economy, and which businesses and real estate sectors benefit most. They also explore the pressures associated with student housing, workforce needs and campus development and what a healthier partnership between the university and the Town of Boone could look like.

In this episode:

• How App State influences Boone’s population and economy
• Which businesses and real estate sectors benefit from university activity
• How student housing, workforce needs and infrastructure affect the community
• The changing development relationship between App State and the Town
• What greater cooperation and shared planning could accomplish

Join the conversation: Is App State’s growth creating more opportunity or more pressure for Boone and what should the university and Town of Boone address together?

Follow Boone Tea for thoughtful conversations about the people, places, and decisions shaping Boone and the High Country. Help us broaden the conversation: share this episode and tell us what we should explore next.

Links:

• App State Facts
• GuideAlong App

Corrections: The App State reservoir is located off of Rainbow Trail, not Winkler's Creek. App State beach Michigan on September 1, 2007, so no not 25 years, but feels like it.

Summer brings visitors, events and outdoor activity to the High Country but its economic influence reaches far beyond hotels and restaurants. James and Jamie follow a visitor’s day from breakfast to bedtime to show how tourism supports businesses, properties and jobs throughout Boone.

They explore how outdoor recreation affects business-location decisions, why seasonal demand creates both opportunity and risk, and how parking, labor and infrastructure influence the visitor experience. The episode closes with a look at how tourism and recreation may shape Boone’s commercial landscape in the years ahead.

In this episode:

• How visitor spending moves through Boone’s local economy
• Why outdoor recreation influences commercial locations and investment
• The opportunities created by indoor and year-round recreation
• How seasonality, workforce availability, parking and congestion affect businesses
• What future tourism growth could mean for commercial real estate

Join the conversation: Which summer activity, event or business best represents the High Country experience?

Follow Boone Tea for thoughtful conversations about the people, places, and decisions shaping Boone and the High Country. Help us broaden the conversation: share this episode and tell us what we should explore next.

Why does Boone keep getting certain types of development—and why do some highly requested businesses never appear? Jamie flips the script and puts James in the hot seat for a wide-ranging discussion about the market forces shaping Boone’s commercial landscape.

They examine the cycles behind car washes and hotel development, the relationship between tourism and national brands, and the reasons some commercial locations experience frequent tenant turnover. The conversation also covers traffic, infrastructure, wages, childcare and practical advice for entrepreneurs evaluating a Boone location.

In this episode:

• What drives clusters and cycles of car wash development
• Why Boone continues to attract hotel investment
• How local businesses and national chains compete for space and customers
• Why certain commercial properties experience repeated turnover
• How access, traffic and infrastructure constrain development

Join the conversation: What type of commercial development does Boone need most and what location would serve it best?

Follow Boone Tea for thoughtful conversations about the people, places, and decisions shaping Boone and the High Country. Help us broaden the conversation: share this episode and tell us what we should explore next.

Boone is growing, but what should healthy growth look like for the people and businesses already here? David Jackson, President and CEO of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, joins James and Jamie for Boone Tea’s first guest conversation.

David discusses Boone’s identity, Appalachian State University’s regional influence, housing affordability, infrastructure, and the relationships required to support a healthy economy. The conversation also explores innovation and the potential for healthcare and life sciences to expand the High Country’s economic base.

In this episode:

• What makes Boone’s economy and community identity distinctive
• How App State influences business, culture and innovation
• Why workforce, housing and infrastructure are inseparable
• The tension between modernization and preserving local character
• Where healthcare and life sciences could create future opportunity

Join the conversation: What would healthy economic growth in Boone look like to you five years from now?

Links:

• Boone Area Chamber of Commerce
• NCInnovation

Follow Boone Tea for thoughtful conversations about the people, places, and decisions shaping Boone and the High Country. Help us broaden the conversation: share this episode and tell us what we should explore next.