Backyard Birds has been at 1819 Matthews Township Parkway, Suite 800 in Matthews the past 22 years.

Laurie Horne took over the business about five years ago and today continues to enjoy running the business with the help of the children of Roger Ford, who founded it in 1996, and her dog Buddy.

Buddy, her golden retriever, functions as the store’s mascot and regularly greets guests as they come in.

“I loved the nature products, I loved feeding the birds,” Horne said while discussing led her to want to own the business.

For a while she had been a customer of the store and over the years became friends with the Ford family. She’s glad to own the store today and enjoys meeting all the different customers who come by. Some even come by just to say hi to Buddy, Horne said.

“My favorite thing about it (the store) is the people,” she said.

While the business features various bird focused items such as bird seed, bird houses and bird feeders, it also carries garden décor, flags, gift items and more. They are always working to bring in new products, Horne said.

Along with a variety of items, Backyard Birds also hosts many events such as bird walks at Colonel Francis Beatty Park, native plant sales, Reptiles 101 events, which focus on educating people about reptiles, special events with the Carolina Raptor Center and more.

A schedule of events and upcoming activities can be found on the Backyard Birds website as well as its social media pages.

Business has been good at the store and she hopes to continue to attract new customers while at the same time continuing to serve her current ones, Horne said.

“It’s a job, it’s a lot of work and it’s up my ally as far as nature goes,” Horne said in reference to her love of nature leading her to want to get involved with Backyard Birds.

For more information about Backyard Birds visit www.thebirdfoodstore.com or the Backyard Birds Facebook or Instagram pages.

People can also contact the store by calling (704) 841-9453.