In the summer of 1983 the Masons built the building at its current location, half a mile west of Interstate 35 on State Highway 9.
By the late 1980s, they had bought most of the equipment from a peanut shop next door that closed.
In a few more years, Bill Mason added a bakery.
Sales took off.
Bill Mason died in 2005, and Karen Mason died in 2008.
Brett Mason, who had been living in Hawaii for about 20 years, came home in 2005 to keep the business alive.
“People ask me, ‘Why don't you sell it?' I tell them I can't. I can't sell Mason's Pecans. It's been here forever,” he said.
The business has its ups and downs, he said, with this year's pecan crop being one of the best ever as far as quantity.
“I've had some people get as many as 400 pounds of pecans from one tree,” he said.
So many people have brought pecans to be cracked, he still has a waiting list.
A good crop is a mixed blessing, he said.
“It probably means my retail sales will tank next year, because people will have all the pecans they need,” Brett Mason said.
While many people know that the business sells pecans and peanuts, and does custom cracking and shelling of pecans, not everyone knows that the shop also sells other kinds of nuts, including pine nuts, as well as nut candies, honey, syrup, jellies, relishes, molasses, hot sauces and barbecue sauces.
Mason's also operates a bakery and makes custom baskets.
The store is open seven days a week from mid-September through Easter.
After Easter, the store is open Monday through Saturday but closes on Sundays.
