Store touts MoonPies

MoonPies and RC Colas have been linked for years, and they are now available together at Chattanooga Bakery's latest venture at Rock Point Books.

Chattanooga Bakery has opened a MoonPie General Store inside the downtown bookseller offering factory-fresh MoonPies in a variety of sizes and flavors, T-shirts, hats, MoonPie folk art as well as a selection of other gifts and merchandise.

Tory Johnston, vice president of marketing for Chattanooga Bakery, said the partnership with Rock Point and the downtown location at 401 Broad St. are perfect for the new store.

"We get many, many requests each year from fans wanting to see MoonPie up close and to visit a factory store," he said. "We couldn't have hoped for a better building and downtown location for this first phase."

Chattanooga Bakery and Rock Point Books grand opening celebration began Friday and continues today. Inside the store is what bakery officials are billing as the "world's largest MoonPie," a snack almost 4 feet across and weighing 55 pounds. There will be a ceremonial "pie-cutting" at 2 p.m. today.

Angela Bobbitt, manager of Rock Point Books, said she is proud to welcome MoonPie into the shop.

"We are extremely excited about it," she said. "We know it is going to bring more traffic to us and to them."

MoonPie opened its first general store in Charleston, S.C., and has now returned home with the company's second.

"We wanted to debug it and make sure it worked outside our market before bringing it home to open here," Mr. Johnston said.

The store should bolster the city's downtown attractions for visitors, said Bob Doak, president and chief executive of the Chattanooga Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"Visitors from all over the world know about the MoonPie, an iconic product manufactured here in Chattanooga," Mr. Doak said. "Having this new, convenient location to buy all things MoonPie adds another great element to the Chattanooga visitor experience."

RC Cola and MoonPies became well known around the South over the years as many people enjoyed the bargain-priced combination.

Chattanooga Bakery was founded in 1902, and according to the company, MoonPie was born 15 years later following a conversation between a bakery salesman and some Appalachian coal miners. By the late 1930s, the MoonPie was the bakery's No. 1 seller, a spot it still holds today.

World's largest MoonPie

* 40 inches across

* 6 inches high

* 14 pounds of marshmallow

* 6 pounds of chocolate

* 55 total pounds

* 45,000 calories

Source: Chattanooga Bakery