This year’s 301 Endless Yard Sale is June 14th and 15th. Founded in Selma and now hosted by a variety of towns located along US 301 in the counties of Johnston, Halifax, Wilson, Nash, and Harnett, the annual 301 Endless Yard Sale takes place the 3rd Friday and Saturday of June annually. Along the 100-mile plus stretch of highway, the event offers deals, antiques, collectibles, DIY furniture, crafts, and more.
Celebrating 12 years in 2024, the event attracts over 20,000 shoppers, and over 2,500 vendors, every year to sell or buy. People often stay overnight in the area to take advantage of the two full days of the sale, and hopefully, cover the entire 100+ miles.
The Kenly Tobacco Farm Life Museum has seen many great benefits from being a vendor location along the sale route in the northern part of the county. The museum charges vendors a nominal fee to set up and this year will partner with the local Boy Scout troop to offer on-site concession items. The scouts will be selling sausage dogs for breakfast and hot dogs for lunch on both Friday and Saturday; proceeds go to the troop. Coffee and sodas will also be available.
The four other participating counties have visitors bureaus that work with the Johnston County Visitors Bureau to plan and promote the sale by managing the website and the social media for the sale. Over 26,000 people follow the event on Facebook; the months leading up to the event often find shoppers, vendors, past participants and first-time attendees enthusiastically reacting to and sharing posts on the page.
“We work to promote the event, encourage vendor locations, and keep an open line of communication between local stores, restaurants, residents, and county officials,” said Ashby Brame, Director of Marketing & PR for the Johnston County Visitors Bureau, “but, we’re just the middleman. The vendors work with local businesses to set up booth space and the shoppers come to buy from the vendors. Going into year 12 we have come to realize that even if we stepped out of the organizing and planning role, everyone would still show up. People are very enthusiastic about this sale and it's great for the local economy.”
Tommy Abdalla is a local businessman and hobbyist antique collector; he is responsible for organizing the vendor location at South Johnston High School in the southern part of JoCo, “this is a 10+ year successful event promoting the beauty of North Carolina’s backroads and the friendliness of our residents. We pride ourselves on bringing in people from over 20 states who not only shop the sale but eat in local restaurants and stay in local hotels.”
Shoppers interested in participating on the 14th and 15th, as well as people interested in being a vendor along the route, can visit www.301endlessyardsale.com or like the Facebook page. In addition, it is very important both for personal and community safety that vendors and shoppers read the FAQs for each on the website; be cautious when driving, mind where you park, bring water and snacks, wear sunscreen, and consider comfortable clothing and shoes.
Abdalla sells at, but also shops, the sale every year and says that you never know what you’ll find, “you see things that you grew up with like farm tools, fishing equipment, collectibles, furniture, antiques, toys; most anything imaginable. Personally, I found a local cookbook that had several of my aunt’s recipes in it!”
