Located at the intersection of Concord Road and Squirrel Spur Road, near the Blue Ridge Parkway in Meadows of Dan, Poppy’s is an inviting shop featuring an eclectic mix of items. Shoppers can find alpaca products, spinning fibers and yarn, exceptional gifts, and books. Poppy’s features a blend of whimsical and elegant, vintage and unique, designer and handmade. This store also emphasizes fair trade and American-made items, and boasts a selection of jewelry, vintage china, classic linen towels, note cards, felted mobiles, and more.
Proprietor Leslie Shelor is a native of the Meadows of Dan, nestled on the Blue Ridge plateau just over the Floyd County line. Her family has lived there for nine generations and her love for the land and the people is evident in every aspect of her life. Her day-to-day life is rich with family and community traditions such as music, art, storytelling, and crafting.
She also has roots in the Meadows’ neighboring county, Floyd. One of her ancestors migrated from Floyd County to Meadows of Dan in the 1820s, along with several other families from the Floyd area. The two counties have much in common, Leslie tells us, sharing similar terrain, lifestyles, and economic interests.
Leslie grew up in a home that had been in her family for five generations, surrounded by music and by people who were artisans by necessity. Leslie watched her grandmother sew, preserve fruits and vegetables, and share her love of books. Her grandfather could be found making banjos, guitars, and fiddles out of select woods from his own land. The house was full of music, sometimes from the radio, but most often from family and friends making music together, passing songs from generation to generation.
Surrounded by all this creativity, Leslie experimented with crocheting and other crafts. “Living here on the land where generations of kin have shaped their lives,” says Leslie, “gives me a unique perspective. I have the music, the stories, and the connection to the soil. I belong here and have a deep and abiding love and respect for all who came before me.”
After living and working outside the area for a number of years, Leslie returned to Meadows of Dan in 1990. This is when Leslie’s mother gifted Leslie her grandmother’s spinning wheel. With this wheel and some rough wool she got from a fiber producer in West Virginia, she learned to spin. During this time, Leslie also began to breed and raise German angora rabbits; a specialty breed raised for shearing so the fibers could be spun.
In 2005, Leslie and her partner, Ron Lawrence, opened a bookstore called Greenberry House, located in the same building that would one day become Poppy’s. Over the next fifteen years, Greenberry House grew, changed and adapted. It started as an antiquarian and used bookstore, but quickly branched out into a hand-spinning fiber and yarn shop.
For those who came to know Leslie through Greenberry House, the tradition lives on at Poppy’s. Poppy’s still features a selection of handspun yarns and spinning fibers. Leslie also works with a number of other spinners in the area who sell their yarns through Poppy’s. The yarns are perfect for knitting and crochet projects and, unlike harshly processed commercial wools, are next-to-the-skin soft. Shoppers may even find a few fleeces for processing along with roving or batts; great for hand spinning or felting.
Leslie, a talented and versatile artisan, spends her days spinning and dying, knitting and crocheting, creating beauty from fiber with her nimble fingers. She tends her shop, curates her books, and interacts with customers from all over. She has demonstrated hand-spinning at many area events and venues and continues to work with fibers produced by local farmers. She is also co-owner and host of the Quince podcast, with Beth Almond Ford.
The new shop, Poppy’s, is named for a German Angora rabbit. “I just like the happy sound of Poppy’s,” says Leslie, “and other people seem to like it as well. People bring me little gifts with poppies on them.”
A cheerful name is fitting for this charming fiber, gift, and yarn shop in the tiny hamlet of Meadows of Dan. Poppy’s still has a vast selection of used and fine collectible books, including fiction, children’s books, religion, and folklore, but specializing in biography and history. The quality book selection is extensive, and Leslie continues to add more titles.
Sandra Hooper of The Alpaca Home Store has created an alpaca wonderland at Poppy’s, with a room full of quality alpaca garments, socks, toys, accessories, felted soaps, hats, gloves, ponchos, and more. Along with the luxury alpaca, Poppy’s offers elegant home décor gifts, quality souvenirs, and amazing handmade items.

Poppy’s is just three minutes from Floyd County’s Mabrys Mill; one of the area’s most-visited attractions on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Leslie, along with longtime friend and experienced customer service clerk, Kristen, open the shop Thursday through Monday, 9:00am to 5:00pm. “Come on down the road a bit and visit Poppy’s in Meadows of Dan. We would love to get to know you and help you to enjoy spending time in this corner of the world I call home.”

Poppy’s • Leslie Shelor • www.modpoppys.com
10 Concord Road, Meadows of Dan, VA
Quince podcast: www.quincepodcast.com