ASHEVILLE, N.C. — An Asheville company that took a financial hit from Hurricane Helene is back at work for the holiday season and looking to help other small businesses that suffered because of the devastating September storm.
Ginger Frank says popcorn was a childhood favorite.
“Popcorn was like the snack my family grew up on,” she said. “Whenever we did anything, there was always popcorn.”
Frank went on to found Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn in Asheville 10 years ago. She says she had no idea how much her business would grow.
“I’ve definitely given up the notion that I know exactly what the next 10 years are going to look like, because the last 10 look really different than what I ever imagined,” she said.
The holidays are a busy time at Poppy, no matter whether they’re working behind the scenes or selling to customers.
One of their goals is to give back. Right now, they’re donating $2 from their Asheville Mix bag to other small businesses in western North Carolina. Their retail partners are donating $1 per Asheville Mix bag sold.
“We worked with a local artist in Asheville to create this bag," Frank said. “It kind of represents all of the things we love about Asheville.”
The Asheville Mix has two of the best-selling flavors — salted caramel and white cheddar — which makes for a great gift.
“It’s consumable, it’s not something that someone has to find a place for other than their belly,” she said.
Her business had experience with disasters before Helene, when the roof caved in after a heavy snowfall six years ago.
“That was a pivotal time for Poppy and had we not had some resources, we would’ve totally been out of business,” Frank said.
She says the impact of Helene is widespread and there aren’t enough resources to go around, so she wanted to help other small businesses.
“I just know how disheartened I would be if I had worked all of this time just to see an unexpected storm come and take it all away,” Frank said.
Helene also hit Poppy's business; it was without water and power for nearly four weeks, which hurt financially.
“Without us shipping at all in the month of October, that’s a huge financial hit, because we’ve already put the money out,” she said. “But now we’re not getting it back in.”
After missing the busiest month, the power is back on, and employees are back at work. Despite the financial loss, Frank says she’s hoping to see growth in 2025. The company employs 52, but she wants to be able to do more.
She says western North Carolina will need help beyond this year, and she wants the region to be remembered after the holidays.
“The holiday season, people making purchases during this time is amazing,” she said. “We’re super thankful. But as we turn the corner and go into 2025, please keep western North Carolina businesses in mind and support them in any way that you can.”
She says they’ve sold about 30,000 Asheville Mix bags so far.