For Martin Pinson, owner of Pinson Novelties, he’s been coming to the State Fair for as long as he can remember. His father started the business back when Pinson was just a baby after he returned from the Korean War. As a Winston-Salem native, the N.C. State Fair has always held a special place in Pinson’s heart.
“We would go to the Dixie Classic Fair in Winston and then we would go to the state Fair,” he recounted. As a kid, he had the opportunity to walk around the fair with his father, checking on the merchandise booths around the grounds.
Twelve years ago, when he took over ownership of Pinson Novelties, he continued the business legacy. During the fair, Pinson spends his day walking around the fairgrounds checking on all his merchandise stands and making sure they’re well stocked and everything is running smoothly.
For him, State Fair preparation begins early, with most of the work kicking off in May. Pinson shared that there’s usually a lot of back and forth about colors and designs, so getting a head start is key in making sure they’re ready by October.
Each year they sell over 50 different products, all State-Fair themed, across the fairgrounds. Although the exact numbers change every year, Pinson was able to give an idea about how much products they bring with them, sharing that they typically start by bringing about 500 youth-sized shirts and about 750 adult-sized shirts. Over the years he’s gotten good at gauging whether they’ll need more shirts and how many and he has a local shirt printer in Raleigh who he reaches out to print additional shirts during the fair to make sure they don’t run out.
When he’s not busy checking on their stands, Pinson likes to grab a burger from Fuller’s Charbroiled Hamburgers and visit exhibits around the fairgrounds. He shared that one of his favorite places to visit is the Kerr Scott building where he likes to look at the photography and painting competition displays.
“I’m so happy to be there every year. It’s my favorite fair,” Pinson said.
The N.C. State Fair isn’t the only event Pinson sells at. He’s busy year-round, spending 8 months out of the year on the road. Even when he’s not on the road there’s still a lot of work to be done with the design and printing of all the products he sells throughout the year. He also goes to merchandise shows across the country to get new product ideas and stay up to date on current trends.
Despite his success, he still credits the N.C. State Fair as being the place where it all started.
“The North Carolina State Fair was really the starting point for all of the other fairs that we were able to get into. I think Raleigh was the building block for all of that,” he said. Not only is the N.C. State Fair the one he grew up going to, but he also met his wife at the fair while she was in college at the N.C. State. He’s looking forward to the upcoming fair, and hopes to continue coming for as long as possible.