Gayle’s Market has closed. A month ago, I passed by their store on Spotswood Trail in Penn Laird, just outside of Harrisonburg, and they looked closed. We travelled that way again last Sunday and they are indeed closed.
I was crushed. For years, as I drove back and forth from Mossy Creek to fish, I would take advantage of every opportunity to stop in and pick up a couple country ham sandwiches from Gayle’s. In business for over 50 years, their cheeses and produce were also good, and I thought they had some of the best country hams on the market and at much lower prices than all of the big names.
I knew the owner and founder, Gayle Cupp, and chatted with him on several occasions. He said he bought his hams from only two producers in North Carolina – the best hams he could find. Gayle died about 5 or 6 years ago, but his family continued the tradition until Covid took its toll.
A great Virginia landmark is now gone and one that is irreplicable.