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The Tip is 'Don't procrastinate' For years I've been buying ink jet cartridges from a big box office supply store. These cartridges were made overseas and labeled with the well-known brand of a large American printer company. One I remembered a local store that advertised quality cartridges. I had traveled by this local store hundreds of times but never stopped. This time I stopped at the local store. To my surprise I discovered that they carried the cartridge I needed and it was a Made in USA cartridge. Made in Chicago, to be precise, and it was half the price of the imported ones I had been buying for years. The quality is exceptional and they last longer too. Who knew? After that experience, I make a point to stop at every store I can. By doing so, I've been finding more and more Made in America products. Occasionally the clerks don't know the country of origin; this can be discouraging but finding the origin information yourself isn't difficult I've come to realize. Believe it not, there are actually a number of computers made in the US including laptops made in the USA. When the label is not visibly displayed I use the other Made in America buying tips to help me find Made in US. If the store doesn't carry what you are looking for, use Made in America Secrets to find it and tell the manager about your experience at their store. If enough people are asking for Made in America products stores will begin to carry them. Buying Tip Continued - Read more on Made in America Products by Cedar Mountain Banjos For most of his life, woodworking has been a passion for CMB founder Lo Gordon. In 1993 Lo and his wife Mary sold their custom wooden garage door business and moved to Brevard, NC to pursue their dream of opening a music store and starting a business making open-back banjos. At the time of the move, Lo had been playing banjo for a number of years and had made several banjos for himself. Having moved to North Carolina, Lo and Mary opened their music store Celestial Mountain Music in downtown Brevard, and started Cedar Mountain Banjos in 1996. In the midst of this transition, they continued to perform in their family band with sons Tim and Matt Gardner. Over the years, the music store became a central hub for the vibrant local music scene. In 2013 Celestial Mountain Music changed ownership and is now Southern Comfort Records, and continues to offer top-notch instruction and instrument repairs in the same historic downtown location. Meanwhile, open-back banjo players and aficianados around the globe began to take notice of the fine artisanship and design of Cedar Mountain's offerings. Today notable players such as Sheila Kay Adams, David Holt, Mary Z. Cox, Hilary Dirlam, Darin Gentry, Diane Jones, Ernie Williams, Al Petteway and Linda Williams play Cedar Mountain banjos. In 2005 Lo's son Tim Gardner, a graduate of NC State's School of Forestry, started with Cedar Mountain Banjos after working several years as a timber framer and house carpenter. Having built over 300 banjos since 2005, he continues to manage the company, focus on new concepts, and maintain CMB as an industry leader for fine design, craftsmanship, and customer service. In September 2013, Tim took over ownership of CMB and moved the workshop to the new Mills River location just outside of Brevard. Tim is an in-demand acoustic musician, producer, teacher and recording artist around the Asheville-Brevard area. For more information about Tim's musical projects please visit coyoteridgeaudio.com. |
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