Genny Wrenn, 55, loves game days in Chapel Hill because her father’s local souvenir shop, The Shrunken Head Boutique, becomes filled with UNC fans.
“It’s wall-to-wall people trying to get in here,” Wrenn said. “I call it the Shrunken Head shuffle.”
The store has seen many of those crowded game days. This fall season marks the 40th anniversary of the store’s opening.
Shelton Henderson, the 75-year-old owner of The Shrunken Head Boutique, works with his family and other employees to maintain the oldest UNC merchandise store on Franklin Street.
“Once a family member is not able to own it or run it, we definitely would close, ‘cause we’re known for our family being here,” Wrenn said.
Henderson opened his business in the fall of 1969 in Jacksonville, N.C. The first store was a head shop, which sold merchandise such as incense and rolling papers.
The store was originally named after Henderson’s interactions with Marines who frequented the store in its early years.
“One of our ex-Marines said, ‘Well, Shelton, you’re always trying to shrink these Marines’ heads. Why don’t you call it the Shrunken Head?’” Wrenn said.
But nearby stores took over the head shop market.
“The grocery stores in the area decided they wanted to do the incense and the rolling papers,” Wrenn said. “And my dad said, ‘Thank goodness.’ So we got out of that.”
Henderson originally expanded the store to Greenville with the hopes of establishing stores in 25 college towns. But due to a shortage of employees, he, being a UNC fan, settled on Chapel Hill as the sole location for the store. The family moved to town in 1972.
The Shrunken Head began to sell only UNC merchandise in 1983 after the UNC men’s basketball team won the national championship the previous year.
“That was the most wonderful thing that could ever happen,” Wrenn said. “Everybody was on the street — the whole family was — ‘til four in the morning. They were hollering and painting the street in light blue.”
The Henderson family met after the victory and decided to become a UNC souvenir shop. They also added ‘boutique’ to the store’s name.
The next generation of the Henderson family has already begun to work in the store. Wrenn’s 11-year-old niece has started to run the register.
“We train ‘em young,” she said.
Although the store is primarily family-run, the Hendersons have employees from outside the family.
James McCleary, 30, applied to work at the Shrunken Head seven years ago because he liked the personal atmosphere of the store.
“It’s more like people are visiting rather than people are shopping at a store,” he said.
Wrenn said after decades with the store, she still enjoys seeing familiar faces.
“I have a real good memory,” she said. “I’ll recognize somebody that came to basketball camp when they were 12, and now they have a 12-year-old coming to basketball camp. Everybody’s amazed at that.”
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
