About Us
Create 304 is the parent company to 3 West Virginia brands, Up the Creek, Mix In Magic, and Almost Heaven Specialties.
Up the Creek was founded in 1996 in Montgomery, West Virginia. Fred Lockard had a recipe for specialty mustards and sauces that needed to be shared with everyone! Thus Up the Creek was born. For 23 years Fred, produced, sold, and distributed Up the Creek products all across West Virginia and the rest of the United States.
May 15, 2019 Fred sold Up the Creek to Trey Yates. Now headquartered in Rainelle, West Virginia, Up the Creek has now increased distribution and continues to grow daily. Keeping tradition with the recipes Fred had and great customer service. Here’s to the future!
Mix In Magic was formed by John and Kari Yatsko in 2016. After having worked for years for a company selling dips, soups, and wine mixes and learning that the owner was moving into another business endeavor, they decided to purchase the existing recipes and expanded with new ones. Based out of Pennsylvania for a year and a half, Mix-in Magic was growing and thriving. Their family, too, was growing and led to their decision to move to Alabama, to be closer to Kari’s mother. Growing a family and growing a company proved too difficult a task and ultimately led to the decision to close the company, as family must always come first. John and Kari were very excited when they were contacted by Trey Yates, 2020 West Virginia Small Business Administration Young Entrepreneur of the Year and owner of Greenbrier Dairy LLC, to sell Mix-in Magic so that their loyal customers, and future customers, can continue to enjoy the wide array of flavors. In 2020, Trey moved Mix in Magic to its new home of Rainelle, West Virginia to grow Mix in Magic as a business and to bring business to West Virginia.
Almost Heaven Specialties
Founded in 2016 by Trey Yates, Almost Heaven Specialties has come a long way from its beginnings in a home office. When Trey first started out, his passion to bring industry back to the small towns of rural West Virginia inspired him to leave West Virginia University and look for opportunities in Southern West Virginia as an entrepreneur. We now serve customers all over the Eastern United States, and are thrilled to be a part of the economic rebirth of Appalachia, by offering the best of the BEST of West Virginia to the world!
We hope you enjoy our products as much as we enjoy offering them to you. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact us.