Three Bears General Store

This is an awesome Christian owed store! Something for everyone at very reasonable prices… They even have a live bear exhibit and a deli and ice cream shop. This is one of my favorite places to visit when I come to Pigeon Forge! I’d highly recommend it to you and your family!
As for the bear exhibit… These bears are well provided for with everything they need. They were rescued from a hunting club, better known as a kill farm. Without the care of the General Store, these bears would have been killed a long time ago.

How fun! We had a late breakfast at Sawyers’s Farmhouse next door and they gave us a coupon for a free quarter pound of fudge at 3 Bears, so I had to stop by for at least the fudge. Boy, am I glad I did. What a fun, touristy place.
And then I discovered they have live bears that you can feed. Entrance to the bear exhibit is free if you check in on Unilocal,so my wife and I both checked in. The food was an extra $ 1.25 and so we bought one and off we went.
I had the best time. The bears are lazy and won’t move but 5 feet to eat, so you have to throw the food right at them. You can also drop it down some pipes in the lower level and hear them snort for more. They’re hilarious.
Inside is all kinds of fun stuff to buy. It’s a total tourist trap and I loved every minute of it. I’m glad my wife humors me at places like this. She probably gets a bigger kick out of watching me than the others things, but that’s why I love her!

Our family absolutely loved this store! They definitely have something for EVERYBODY from NFL, college, NASCAR, clothes, jewelry, toys, seasonal as well as an awesome food section with incredibly samples to try just about anything they have! And don’t forget to feed the bears! This store is filed with fun, character, friendly staff as well as outstanding customer service all around! After reading some of the other reviews the five stars were given to the store, merchandise and customer service. It is not fair to penalize the entire organization over a personal opinion on the nature of or condition of the bears in captivity.

I have been coming here since i was a kid in the 80’s and watched it grow to what it is
is a one stop shop for all your souvenirs needs. first floor is taffy clothes jewelry and typical nick nack stuff. On the 2^nd floor which you can take an escalator or an elevator for the
a small arcade, old time photo shop, Christmas shopp and you can see the live bears up here the conditions for this is the same as a zoo.

I heard about the miserable bears at the Three Bears General Store, and I am very disappointed. I hardly think any human would be satisfied with eating regularly and having access to shade and water, if the food they were eating came out of a can and the area they had access to was a dirty concrete hole. Nobody deserves that kind of treatment, unless they committed some terrible crime. Why is it OK and cute to put animals in a prison for our own amusement? Imagine the scene with humans in that hole instead of bears. Pretty ugly thought, isn’t it?

BOYCOTT THIS STORE… I cannot believe they have these poor bears trapped an a concrete hell. IT IS DEPRESSING… they are so very hot, and going stir crazy… This is no way for them to spend a long life. The small water hole is their drinking water too! They are being fed dog food, this is not the diet they need. I can see the misery in their eyes begging for help. Please release them to a sanctuary or rescue so they can feel grass upon their feet once more. I URGE YOU TO STOP THE TORTURE. I would never shop or give my hard earned dollars to people that think this is cute because they are named the Three Bears General Store. I would urge everyone to boycott this it is not acceptable to do this to a living creature. Heart breaking… Give up the bears and you will have much more business!!!

HORRIBLE ABUSE TO BEARS!!! I was shocked to see real living bears (not living they way they are supposed to be living in the wild) in this place! WTF!!! these animals are kept in terrible conditions in this terrible town. These bears are neglected and abused. I’m sickened. Don’t go to this place. it’s a hell for animals, they need to be freed immediately.

EXPLOITS BEARS! Bears are extremely intelligent and inquisitive, foraging and exploring home ranges of up to hundreds of miles in the wild.
The pit the five bears are confined to is made entirely of concrete «rocks,» a log or two, and one small pool where they have to both drink and bathe.
The bears are fed dog food and are typically left out on display all day, with nowhere to hide.
Bears have suffered at this tourist trap for decades, and PETA has been campaigning against this roadside zoo since 1999.
If this place is so wonderful, they would not need the bears to attract visitors!

had to stop my self from walking into the store after I saw the terrible way they are keeping these bears. take the bears away and I can go in
thanks !

Please do not support stores like this, that keep animals in cruel conditions. There are bear sanctuaries that would treat these incredible animals with humanity and the respect they deserve.

Visiting a place that is about nature, wildlife and all the above I never expected to walk in a place and see bears held in a place smaller than my bedroom I was disgusted and ashamed they should be too. I saw 4 grown adult bears in a glass box with a «swimming hole» no deeper than my ankle and they give you dog treats to give the bears? See the bears should be shut down. I will never go back. They don’t even deserve a star.

Love seeing the Bears but I hate to see them in captivity. They looked miserable panting in the hotbox they were in. one was so nervous he paced back and forth.

I don’t even understand how it’s legal for these people to keep and neglect these bears. Such a shame that people have no regards for animal life and lower themselves to make a measly couple bucks off of them. These bears should be in a natural habitat. They are severely neglected and miserable. This place should get shut down. Damn rednecks!

DO NOT GO TO THIS STORE!
I frequently vacation to the Gatlinburg/​Pigeon Forge area and was completely appalled by the conditions of these poor bears. The bears have broken teeth, malnutrioned, and are showing signs (like rocking back and forth and walking in circles) of being seriously deprived/​going crazy. These bears are stuck in these concrete pits constantly and this is one of the worst cases of animal cruelty I have ever seen.
Seriously get your cheap touristy crap somewhere else. They are NOT a zoo, they do not take care of these animals. These bears are very sick and I will not ever step foot into this store unless the bears are relocated somewhere that can give them the help they need — not stuck in a pit going insane so some tourists will buy their cheap souvenirs.
If you want to vacation somewhere and see happy and healthy black bears (and wolves, otters, rattlesnakes, petting zoo, etc) come to Ashevilles WNC nature center! It’s only $ 10 for adults and $ 5 for kids. Support a community that takes care of their wildlife, and doesn’t need to abuse animals to get tourists.

Horrible treatment of animals. Please do not visit this place. The Bears are in a concrete pit. They have had Bears removed from this facility. The animals should be in a zoo or sanctuary with a natural environment.

This is one of those stores in which you leave with a headache. It’s crowded, everything is shiny, and half of the merchandise either sings or makes some kind of noise. If you’ve got sensory issues, definitely throw on some shades and wear your noise-​canceling headphones.
The aisles are crowded so that every time you walk down one, you are going to knock something over. (And I’m a trim – and good-​looking, though I guess that’s not relevant here, despite it being very, very true – man, who should easily be able to prance down an establishment’s aisles without endangering the merchandise.) And while the store is huge. .. well, I just thought there’d be cooler stuff in there. How much SEC merchandise can a person own? There’s nothing much on the first floor you couldn’t find in any other general store in the South, which sort of makes the place lose its appeal. Like most other stores in the US, it’s a warehouse for mass-​produced cheap items no one needs. You know what you’re going to see.
However, I did enjoy the Christmas section. Some of the ornaments were, if not unique, not something I usually see elsewhere.
There are better places to go. Go to a store that sells handcrafted items before going here. If you do go, get ready to pop some Tylenol.

Nothing but a waste of time.
First of all, the merchandise is hokey as hell. The kind of stuff you would find at roadside gas stations or dusty flea markets. Although they do have a nice selection of jams, honey, and spices.
Second, the customer service is lacking. Sawyer’s restaurant had given us a coupon for free fudge, and I planned to use it. Well, at the fudge counter, the customers were scattered all over the place, and I didn’t know where the line was. So I stood next to the customer at the cash register so I could ask the employee. I couldn’t ask her because she spent her sweet time joking and chit-​chatting with the customer. Now, I get that being friendly to the customers is a good thing, but there is also a time and a place for it. When someone else is waiting to be served, then please: PROCEED with your transaction!
When the cashier was finally done talking to her customer, another customer arrived at the other side of me, and the cashier proceeded to serve her. Before I could say anything, the cashier turned to me and said, «The line starts over here.» Well, cashier, you saw me standing there waiting for service. If you had just shut your trap for 2 seconds and told me or directed me as to where to go, we wouldn’t have a problem.
I was so disgusted that I didn’t even want to see the Bears or the rest of the store. I gave my free fudge coupon to someone else. I’d rather pay to be treated well than have a «free product» carrot dangle for shit service.

Let’s all urge the owner to place these bears in a better environment — concrete pits are a terrible way for these bears to live out their lives. There are organizations willing to help the owner relocate these beautiful bears who deserve our respect and compassion.

We had a chance stop here accidentally but had a great experience. If you are looking into affordable bear viewing experience, this is a place to go to.
You can buy bear food to feed them too but hours are limited. I would recommended. Staff is friendly too.

A fun, non-​sleezy souvenir shop to check out. They have a snack bar, and also a bear that walks around (not a real one, a person dressed up as one). They do have bears that that are being held in captivity upstairs that you can see.
Overall, it’s a souvenir shop, non-​sleezy, family friendly, and they have homemade fudge and other nom-​noms.