About Flat Creek Dulcimer Shop
Jeff and Debbie Kamps, the owners of the Flat Creek Dulcimer Shop live on 23 acres of Arkansas hills, trees and rocks in a home Jeff built of wood cut from white oak logs he cut and brought to a local saw mill. Debbie has returned to college to get her Masters degree and is now teaching high school English in our local school district. While still an active participant in decision making, her teaching keeps her away from the shop’s regular day to day operation.
Since opening the Flat Creek Dulcimer Shop on April 1, 1988, we have made many changes. By renovating the building and converting some attic space into a second floor, we went from the original 750 sq. ft. of retail space to about 2300 sq. ft. with an additional 1000 sq. ft. of space that currently houses our laser engraving business. In 1998 we moved our instrument construction to a separate facility located “out on the highway” about 2 miles from our downtown retail location to allow more room and reduce the dust in the retail part of the shop.
From a beginning of just Jeff and Debbie, we have grown to employ 4 full time people and 1 part time person besides Jeff. Sharon Fernimen manages the downtown retail store and keeps things running smoothly. Dave Campbell, Aaron Lowe and Sarah Lowe do most of the instrument building at the new location. Sarah also helps Sharon in the store with some part time help from Emily Cox. Nobody is sure what Jeff does anymore but he is always around when you need him. He does still help with the instruments, the ordering, the sweeping, the packing, the unpacking, ….. Most importantly, he writes the pay checks.
Our goal from the beginning was to build quality, good sounding instruments at an affordable price and to make sure you have a good understanding of how to play them. We have not wavered from that philosophy. We invite you to come to Hardy, Arkansas and visit our store, our area, and our people. Camping, canoeing, trout fishing (walleye, bass and catfish, too), shopping, antiques, and much more. A great place to live and a great place to visit, the Hardy area has lots to offer. Check out our “Links” and “Local Area” pages and make plans to spend some time here. Be sure to stop in and say “Hey”.