Ingles Is Coming Back to Spruce Pine, and the Whole County Can Stop Driving to Tennessee

By Jon Tharp, Broker  ·  June 21, 2026

Relief is finally on the way for Spruce Pine, where Ingles has confirmed it has picked a site for a new grocery store and started development plans. The original store sat at the center of daily life in this Mitchell County town until Hurricane Helene damaged it beyond repair, and its loss turned the area into what local officials openly call a food desert.

Town Manager Daniel Stines said the new store will go up along Highway 19, between Greenwood Road and NC-226A. That keeps it central and easy to reach, which matters in a county tucked into the mountains roughly an hour and 45 minutes northeast of Asheville, where the nearest full grocery alternatives meant a real drive.

Why did losing one grocery store hit Spruce Pine so hard?

When Helene took the Ingles offline, it did not just close a store. It pulled the only major grocery anchor out of a community surrounded by miles of mountain road. Suddenly the closest options were in another town entirely.

Residents started driving to Marion, Burnsville, and Avery County. Folks up in the Poplar areas above Bakersville found it shorter to cross into Tennessee than to make the haul over to Walmart. When the easiest way to buy groceries is leaving the state, you understand quickly how isolating a single closure can be.

"Residents having to travel to Marion, Burnsville, Avery County, even our northern population, the Poplar areas above Bakersville are going over into Tennessee to shop just because it's closer than driving all the way over to Walmart, so it's just good to have a store back," Stines said.

Spruce Pine resident Kellie Chapman said most people she knows have been driving to Weaverville or Morganton for groceries they actually want. Her own parents, she said, are putting 30-plus miles on the car for a normal grocery run.

When will the new Ingles actually open?

Here is the honest answer on timing: nobody is promising a date yet. Ingles chief financial officer said it is too early to lay out a construction timeline, which is fair given how much planning a full grocery build takes.

Stines, though, offered the number people will hang onto. He said work on the project could start as early as August. That is a start date, not an opening date, and grocery stores of this size usually take a year or more to build out. Still, a shovel in the ground this summer would be the clearest sign yet that the wait has an end.

The new store is also shaping up to be bigger than the one Helene took. Officials said it will likely employ two to three times the previous staff, landing somewhere around 180 to 200 full-time workers plus part-time help. In a county this size, that is a serious jolt of jobs and local revenue on top of the convenience.

Why does a grocery store matter for home values in the mountains?

Anyone who has shopped for a mountain home knows the trade-off. You want the quiet and the views, but you still want to get home before the ice cream melts.

Peter Franklin with Foxfire Real Estate put it exactly that way. "We have a rule here in the mountains called the ice cream rule that you don't want to be so far out that your ice cream will melt getting home and we've thoroughly missed Ingles," he said. He added that the gap forced him, like everyone else, to drive to Burnsville or Marion just to shop.

That is not a small thing when you are selling a house. A nearby grocery store is one of the first questions buyers ask, especially retirees and second-home owners weighing how remote they really want to be. The return of Ingles quietly makes Spruce Pine and the surrounding Mitchell County communities an easier place to recommend again.

For a region still working through everything Helene left behind, the confirmation is more than a retail update. It is a piece of normal life coming back to a town that has earned it.

If a story like this has you curious about what settling into a Western NC mountain town could actually look like, Jon Tharp is always glad to talk it through.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Where will the new Ingles in Spruce Pine be located?

The new Ingles will sit along Highway 19 in Spruce Pine, between Greenwood Road and NC-226A, according to Town Manager Daniel Stines. Ingles has confirmed it selected the site and has begun development plans. The original Spruce Pine store, damaged beyond repair during Hurricane Helene, forced residents to drive to Marion, Burnsville, Avery County, and even Tennessee for groceries. The new Highway 19 corridor location keeps the store central to Mitchell County and within easy reach of the town, the surrounding areas, and the northern Poplar and Bakersville communities that had been driving the farthest.

When will the new Spruce Pine Ingles open?

There is no confirmed opening date yet. Ingles chief financial officer said it is too early to give a construction timeline. However, Spruce Pine Town Manager Daniel Stines said work on the project could start as early as August 2026. Grocery store construction typically runs a year or more from groundbreaking to opening, so residents should expect the store to take some time even after work begins. For now, the confirmed site selection and development plans are the firm news, and the August start is the town's best current estimate rather than a guarantee.

How many jobs will the new Ingles bring to Mitchell County?

The new store is expected to employ significantly more people than the original. Officials said it will likely staff two to three times as many workers as before, with an average annualized employment number in the range of 180 to 200 full-time employees, plus several part-time positions. That makes the rebuild a meaningful economic event for Mitchell County, not just a grocery convenience. The added payroll and local tax revenue matter in a small county where a single large employer can shift the picture, especially during the long recovery from Helene.

How did Hurricane Helene affect Spruce Pine?

Hurricane Helene caused severe damage across Spruce Pine and Mitchell County in late 2024, including destroying the town's Ingles grocery store beyond repair. The closure turned the area into what officials describe as a food desert, with residents driving 30-plus miles to Marion, Burnsville, Weaverville, Morganton, Avery County, or even across the state line into Tennessee for groceries. Like much of Western North Carolina, Spruce Pine has spent the months since Helene rebuilding roads, businesses, and basic services. The confirmed return of Ingles is one of the more visible signs of that recovery taking hold.