Searching for thoughtful gifts? Find the perfect match for family and friends on your list with locally crafted socks. From quality merino wool socks for outdoor enthusiasts to matching Christmas socks for the whole family, Farm to Feet in Mount Airy and Mayo Mills in Tarboro are two North Carolina sock companies that are delivering good cheer throughout the year.
Farm to Feet
Mount Airy is the perfect town for weaving stories and socks. The idyllic small town was home to Andy Griffith and inspired Mayberry, the fictional North Carolina town on the “The Andy Griffith Show.” Located in the upper Yadkin Valley near the Virginia state line, Mount Airy is also home to Farm to Feet – the leading manufacturer of performance merino wool socks.
Farm to Feet’s story is woven into the details. Nester Hosiery was already a successful, multigenerational company that supplied socks to big name retailers. Yet they decided they wanted to have their own brand and launched Farm to Feet in 2013.
“We knew we wanted to tell a story about an all-U.S. supply chain for everything like wool, nylons, elastics that all go into the processing of yarns,” says Kerry Nester, executive vice president and general manager of Farm to Feet. “We knit all the socks here in our factory.”
Merino wool comes from merino sheep, which are bred specifically for long, strong wool. Merino producers are found in all 48 contiguous states, and Farm to Feet’s wool is processed in South Carolina.
“That’s really the only facility in the United States that can do this,” Nester says.
About 170 workers are employed in the Mount Airy facility, where the factory turns out comfortable, durable everyday and outdoor socks. Farm to Feet socks are ideal for outdoor enthusiasts as the merino wool keeps feet warm in winter and cool in summer by being breathable and moisture-wicking.
Nature-themed patterns add to the fun like their newest creation “Blue Ridge,” a hiking sock in partnership with Jennifer Pharr Davis, who set a record in 2011 for through-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 46 days. The sock design shows a hiker silhouette against the mountains, a perfect gift for the outdoor lover in your life.
Sustainability and conservation are an important part of the fabric they’re spinning. Farm to Feet uses an all-U.S. supply chain, materials, manufacturing and workers.
“We recycle around 80 to 85% of our waste now,” Nester says. “We have a goal of getting to 100%.”
Mayo Mills
Few places like Mayo Mills in Tarboro exist anymore. American-made textiles like socks used to be common here, but times changed as business moved overseas where products could be made with cheaper labor. The Mayo family persevered, and today the fourth-generation business crafts quality, American-made socks since 1932.
“It’s a hard-fought battle trying to keep it going, but it is very worthwhile,” says owner Tate Mayo.
Mayo and his sisters, Grace and Deanna, continue the legacy their great-grandfather created. Growing up on their North Carolina farm, they witnessed how socks literally came from the field to the foot through producing their own cotton. Not every child can say they grow their own socks, but the Mayo children have firsthand knowledge. Cotton from their farm was ultimately woven into soft, durable socks in the family’s nearby mill.
Mayo Knitting Mill started as a dirt floor factory on Chestnut Street. Production efficiency multiplied when the second generation, Columbus Washington Mayo III, came back to Tarboro.
“In its heyday, in the mid-1950s, the mill employed 450 people and ran production 24 hours a day,” says Mayo, who was elected mayor of Tarboro in 2022. “My sisters and I started Mayo Mills within Mayo Knitting Mill about a few years ago.”
Today’s Mayo Mills might be smaller, but it’s big on inspiration.
“We can trace everything we put into our socks from seed. I can tell you who made it and our supply chain is pretty much all in North Carolina,” Mayo says. Sustainable farm practices like strip tillage and split fertilizer application minimize environmental effects as well as being local. “It’s gotten lost, and it’s a challenge, but we want to show love for our neighbors and support farming and the crafts.”
Even though they’re NC proud, Mayo Mills socks travel the universe.
“We’ve done custom work for Mayo Knitting Mill for George H.W. Bush and NASA,” Mayo says. “That’s something that led us to do custom work for people in our own brand of Mayo Mills. If what we do is good enough for a president, it is good enough to put on everyone else’s feet too!”
From babies to adults, Mayo socks can fit anyone on your gift list, and they both feel good and do good.
If You Go
Farm to Feet
1546 Carter St. in Mount Airy
farmtofeet.com
Mayo Mills
2204 Austin St. in Tarboro
mayomills.com
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Thank you for these articles. I’m going to go visit and purchase from these two places , Lord Willing. I believe we really need to shop US made goods as much as possible. I appreciate your sharing them with the public and I will be sharing them around as well.