A Sylva gun storeowner was given special permission to fire weapons in the town limits by town leaders this month.

Try scaring up a parking space, hunting down an empty bench or pushing a double-stroller along the crowded sidewalks on peak days, and the popularity of downtown Waynesville’s quaint, tree-lined shopping district is obvious.

But for merchants, getting those browsers off the sidewalks and into their shops is another job altogether.

Before the gravy had turned cold and the Thanksgiving Day turkey had been packed away in Tupperware, shoppers were already lining up at the Walmart in Waynesville for one of the earliest Black Friday door busters ever — Thursday night.

She is every Main Street merchants’ dream.

With a penchant for the eclectic and a passion for supporting independent businesses, Carolyn Phinizy worked downtown Waynesville’s shopping district during the post-Thanksgiving spending days like it was her civic duty, not calling it quits until the trunk of her SUV wouldn’t fit another parcel.

Patty Atkinson took a short break from helping the constant flow of customers at a local family pharmacy in the heart of Hazelwood to talk about the evolution of the community around her — from a bustling blue collar factory town to a mostly deserted streetscape to a quickly changing, thriving pocket of Waynesville.