Stone Brothers & Byrd

Stone Brothers & Byrd is among the few downtown survivors from Durham's earlier heyday. In business since 1914, the store displays a clear sense of their own history -- including decades-old wooden seed bins and an antique cash register. They focus on gardening, including tools, plants, seeds, and even EarthSunMoon t-shirts, but they also have a selection of home-made sauces and preserves.

Opinions

Woozle 17:46, 18 May 2005 (CDT)

Harena and I wanted to get a weed-whacker which would take a blade, because I'd had good experiences with a FujiRobin model I used for nearly a decade. We went to SB&B because Harena's dad used to shop there back in the 1970s and SB&B carries FujiRobin. For the more powerful models which could accomodate a blade, however, they only carried Tanaka models. The main guy at the store (George?) recommended the middle one of three (about $350; the high-end was over $500) and I ended up spending over $400 for everything (about $350 for the whacker, $15 for the blade adapter, and $20 for the blade, plus $5 for a 1.25 gallon container) which was more than planned but not really unexpected for a good unit.

The service guy filled the tank for free and powered up the unit to make sure it was working, and they threw in a bottle of the recommended oil for that brand. He also gave us a quick walk-through of the maintenance procedures. Both he and George (?) seemed knowledgeable, and emphasized repeatedly that they were also the service center, repairs done on-site.

After an afternoon of trimming, I can say that the whacker seems very much what I expected, so all told I'd have to say I recommend SB&B from this one experience.