KERNERSVILLE, N.C. — MawMaw’s Chicken Pies is a family owned business, spreading its presence across North Carolina and a few surrounding states.
What You Need To Know
Julia Brown has always has a relationship with chickens, growing up collecting the eggs in the morning on the family farm.
“We had a crazy, mean rooster that would make me drop my basket of eggs sometimes. And I can remember when I was little, I was afraid I'd get in trouble, so I would hide the broken eggs,” said Brown.
The 72-year-old, better known as "Maw Maw," never thought she would be running a business making take-and-bake chicken pies.
“Honestly, the only reason I started this was because, you know, my granddaughter needed some money, but I had no idea it was going to turn into anything at all like this,” Brown said.
Her granddaughter, Whitney, had decided she was going to take a second job at night but Maw Maw sprung into action, opening her new business, MawMaw’s Chicken Pies.
“So I said, ‘if you'll just hang with your Maw Maw, I'll show you how to make some money.’ And started making chicken pies in my kitchen at home, and business just flourished,” she said.
Brown quickly realized her and Whitney were outgrowing their kitchen and decided to use her old hair salon, where she had been a hair dresser for 30 years, as their new kitchen.
“It was only about 400-square-foot, very small. It was really, really hard working conditions. But anyway, we made out until finally I just said, you know, I cannot keep working like this. So I found this building in 2020, right when the pandemic was probably at its worst. And I just stepped that on faith and bought the building,” Brown said.
Now, Brown said, they are in a 3,000-square-foot kitchen and store, and making about 200 pies by hand each day.
“We love it that it's a family business. My son was actually the one that kind of got things going. Without him, I don't know that we would have really pursued it,” she said.
Along with a storefront in Kernserville, Maw Maw has her products in 20 locations throughout North Carolina, Florida, and Virginia.
She said their pies are the best gifts to give for the holidays, with almost all of the ingredients locally sourced in North Caroliina.
“We get, we get really, really busy around the holidays. And, you know, one thing is people love giving our chicken pies is a gift. So, you know, sometimes they will come in and they'll get a whole case of pies because that's what they're going to give as Christmas presents. And honestly, I can't think of anything anybody rather have because this day, same time, you know, people go out and buy whatever they want to buy themselves,” Brown said.
Brown said they have three different kinds chicken pies: chicken only, chicken with vegetables and a hot and spicy. The country store front, run by her daughter, also has other items for sale, like meatloaf, spaghetti, chicken lasagna and more.
The business is looking forward to expanding and opening a lunch counter in their facility in the next few months to serve hot food.
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