Luray’s Hawksbill Trading Company is a local treasure
(photos by Gregg MacDonald and Jay North)
May 2025
by Gregg MacDonald, Staff Writer
When Jay North wanted to start a charitable organization in Luray, Va., he used the seven cooperative principles as his blueprint.
“I learned about them from the Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center,” he says. “I was interested in addressing our community’s needs, not just economic concerns, so the cooperative principles resonated with me.”
For We The People, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to community building and development, offers business training classes and retail space at the Hawksbill Trading Company. This retail store and business incubator program is designed to provide resources for small business development and a brick-and-mortar environment for entrepreneurs seeking to start a small business but who may need training before taking that crucial first step.
“We look forward to teaming up with the SBDC to host classes available to the public at large in the near future,” says North, a member of Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative.
The store is situated in downtown Luray, in a building owned by the Page Cooperative Farm Bureau. The co-op was established in 1921 by a group of farmers who chose to pool their resources to competitively purchase farm supplies. The building currently housing Hawksbill Trading Company was built circa 1949 and was used for hardware, farm supplies and a grocery store. Page County Cooperative operated out of that building until 2003 when they relocated to a new building on Route 211.
Since its inception nine years ago, the Hawksbill Trading Company business incubator program has served more than 100 entrepreneurs, ranging in age from 16 to 96. So far, they have added more than $2 million to the local economy.
“Today, in addition to helping develop small businesses, Hawksbill Trading Company has merchants who sell antiques and collectibles, manufacture soaps, candles, jewelry and more,” says North, “continuing the Shenandoah Valley tradition of creative innovation born of necessity.”
For more information, go to hawksbilltradingcompany.org.