Updated April 27, 2024
We have had an eventful Winter and Spring. In the past three weeks alone we've had two major snowstorms, rain, sleet, sunshine, an earthquake and an eclipse! Now the daffodils have emerged from the snow and are just about to bloom. This is springtime in Vermont!
Our big news is that in June we will be completely transitioning our business to our website and so we will be closing the retail store here in Manchester. We love our Vermont home and aren't moving, but we're going to change our daily business routines. For some time we've been wrestling with our ability to feature all of our favorite things on the website and still run the bricks-and-mortar store, so we’re luckily now able to make this transition - watch for a website redesign and much more additional inventory available there. We will also hold “Pop Up” shows and events here in Manchester a couple of times a year. In the meantime, we’ll be sorting out 38 years of being in this big building and finding all sorts of odds and ends to sell - we've already turned up some interesting treasures from the attic(!). Please follow along on our social media accounts as we document this new journey.
It is difficult for us to express the gratitude we have for all the amazing experiences we've had while here. We tease about it, but every once in a while a Mom or Dad will bring their kids in and note how they remember when their own parents brought them in for the first time - how cool is that? We've met people from all over the world, seen girls and boys grow into women and men, laughed when meeting new babies and cried over those dear friends and clients we've lost. Our own children grew up here, just a short walk from school (that's them above in a 25 year old photo - they're now 31 and 27!!!). We've gotten to work with thousands of clients and hundreds of creative artists and craftspeople. In the 38 years since we opened we have become very close to many, many people whom we first met because they walked through this door. While it will be sad to close our physical doors, we are really excited to open new ones by expanding our online business.
We hope that you will visit if you are in the area in the next two months and celebrate this transition with us. We have endless gratitude for all of you for your friendship and support.
* An additional thought. We are not closing our business, just changing the venue. Accordingly, any outstanding gift certificates, store credits, etc., will continue to be valid. If you have a concern about a situation like that, please get in touch and we'll take care of it right away.
We've been running our business out of this building since 1986. It was originally a house which was built in the mid-1800's and located on the streetscape. Moved a few hundred feet back in the early 60's, it has been home to four different businesses, and will no doubt be a great home to the business that follows us. There are a series of old bedrooms upstairs that we've been using as storage for 38 years - lots of crazy things stashed away that we've been digging out.
So, what do we mean when we say we're moving everything online? Well, mostly it means we will extend the reach of our business to a larger, national audience. And it also means we'll spend more of our time traveling and seeking out new pieces to offer on our website. Of course, the quiet secret is that in our personal lives we will have the time to access scenery like this:
We hope that you will visit if you are in the area in the next two months and celebrate this transition with us. We have endless gratitude for all of you for your friendship and support.
Warmest Regards and with our deepest gratitude,
Betsy and Grant
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