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About Alexander’s

In 1953, Hoyt and Ruby Alexander purchased a small trading post in the Trackrock Area of Blairsville, Georgia with a dream of leaving a legacy and a family business to their children. They called it Alexander’s General Store. In the beginning, Hoyt sold feed and seed, gasoline, and a few staples to locals and folks passing through. Whenever someone asked for something Hoyt didn’t have, he’d track it down for them. A lot of people seemed to ask about clothes and shoes, so soon after they opened, Hoyt and Ruby dedicated a section of their store to a small clothing department. It was the first of many customer-centered expansions to come.

In 1977, Alexander’s truly became a “family” store when Hoyt and Ruby’s youngest son, Eddy, came home to help them run the store. Like his parents, he had a good sense of what people needed, sometimes before they did. He started to settle into his role at Alexander’s, to his parents’ delight. He had the big idea to add hardware supplies and appliances to Alexander’s inventory. And he eventually added firearms and ammunition too. Hoyt and Ruby were beginning to realize their dreams, as Alexander’s became a truly multi-generational family enterprise.

In 1978, Eddy met Sandy while working in the store. Sandy didn’t come shopping for a husband, but she found one at Alexander’s! Soon after, Sandy and Eddy married, and she started working in the family business. If Hoyt and Ruby had thought Eddy had big dreams, Sandy had even bigger ones! While Eddy was busy getting the hardware, appliances, and sporting good departments established, Sandy expanded the clothing and shoe departments. To accommodate the young couple’s big plans, they added new rooms and new walls and remodeled and redesigned until Alexander’s had gone from a tiny trading post to a large department store in the middle of nowhere.

In the mid ’90s, Eddy and Sandy started selling furniture too, so they enlarged the store again. By then, Alexander’s sold gas, groceries, appliances, men’s and ladies’ clothing and shoes, guns and ammunition, and furniture. All of this while also functioning as a True Value hardware store!

Sadly, Ruby passed away in 1995, and Hoyt passed away in 2001. But they both lived to see their dreams become reality. Today, we at Alexander’s make sure their values and traditions live on: fill a need as soon as you see it, treat everyone with respect, and serve with a smile.

Then and Now From Our Family to Yours

Today, Alexander’s has an incredible 50,000 square feet of retail space. You wouldn’t know it standing out front, but inside, you just keep walking into new expanses, all filled with great stuff carefully curated just for you.

Since there really isn’t any place like Alexander’s, it’s become a local landmark and international tourist attraction. What began in 1953 as a small general store has now evolved into a muti-department shopping adventure for the whole family, with more or less everything under the sun. As a family-owned business, Alexander’s maintains a set of shared traditions and values deeply rooted in the history of the store. Hoyt and Ruby instilled these traditions in Eddy and Sandy, who passed them on to their son, Mark, and his wife, Kennetha, the third generation to own the store. Soon after that, when Mark was called to pursue the Gospel ministry full-time, he passed the legacy baton on to Sam and Brittany Combs, Blairsville locals who grew up visiting Alexander’s and wanted to see its traditions continue.

So, you see — Alexander’s is more than just a store. It bears witness to how a legacy of love and service can become tangible. As a local landmark, an international curiosity, a family tradition shared by and supported by many families. And what a wonder that this tangible testament to Hoyt and Ruby’s original vision could be successful in today’s era of mega stores and online shopping.

So, the next time you travel to the North Georgia mountains, stop in and take a wander around the store. We’d love to meet you at Alexander’s!