SHOPPING IN SOUTHERN VERMONT
Majority of Leisure Travelers to Southeastern Vermont Shop for Antique Treasures, Country Wares, Fine Arts & Crafts and Good Books
By Anita Rafael
Savvy travelers skip the sprawl-malls to browse country stores, gallery-style shops and artist’s studios in Southeastern Vermont’s towns and villages in search of locally-made goods and one-of-a-kind artisan gifts. The region’s booksellers have capitalized on the fact that travelers and locals alike cross paths in their cozy shops to chat, browse the selections and share their opinions on the “best read” of the moment.
It was the legendary Mae West who said, “Too much of a good thing is wonderful.” Little did she know that shopping in Southeastern Vermont’s small towns and country villages is very nearly too much of a good thing. The country stores and quaint shops in what city-folk refer to as “out-of-the way” places between Brattleboro and Bellows Falls and from Putney to Wilmington are well-stocked with sophisticated goods, kitchen-crafted comestibles and artful gifts. Those who are passionate about provenance have to confess their shopping secrets: that it is in the “farm road” shops where the best treasures are always found. For others, the region is a reader’s paradise with new and used bookstores at nearly every crossroads.In between outdoor adventures, such as hiking the trails in the region’s three state parks or canoeing down the Connecticut River, leisure travelers still find time to shop. So do cultural travelers – after visits to the area’s museums and recreational attractions, there’s always an extra stop for shopping. In fact, about four in ten travelers, reports the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), stated that a trip is not complete without going shopping.
According to recent domestic travel surveys available through TIA, most leisure travelers, whether day-trippers or overnight visitors, “feel that stores should be unique or different from stores they can find at home.” That is an easy bill to fill in Southeastern Vermont. Browsing a broad variety of retail venues in the region is possible because the towns and villages are so close to one another. Shoppers can amble along Main Streets in Brattleboro or Bellows Falls for some great window-shopping in the morning, and after lunch, they can tour the scenic byways in search of eclectic antique shops. After-hours on special “gallery nights,” they can tour artists’ studios and trendy fine art galleries.
GALLERY HOPPING, ANTIQUING AND TREASURE HUNTING, some experts said, waned as a leisure pastime in the 1990s, but since the turn of the millennium a noteworthy up tick in the values of antiques have spawned a whole new passion for items old and interesting, particularly throughout New England’s colonial territory. From grandiose furniture such as a roll top writing desk to more intimate items like a hundred-year-old sterling silver pocket watch, treasure hunters on a quest for the perfect gift or historic “souvenir” can visit the eclectic shops in Southeastern Vermont. Dozens of fine antique shops offer varied collections, and dealers skilled in locating special pieces always have their welcome mat out. Shop by shop, visitors who love looking at old things can talk personally with dealers in an unhurried atmosphere.The historic area of Newfane is dense with above-average antique shops, all lined up along Route 30: among them, Auntie M’s Attic, Jack Winner and Schoomer Antiques. Farther south in Dummerston, right across from the covered bridge, is Jeff’s Basement, which is really a treasure-trove of old furniture. Slightly west of Townsend center on Route 35, is Colt Barn Antiques, a shop with a most tasteful array of desirable primitives and folk art plus top-quality antique tables, chairs and chests. Also in Townshend, the Taft Hill Collection features a creative mix of hand painted glass and china, an art gallery and original gifts for the home and garden, and not far away is the Riverdale Antiques group shop, a well-liked place for scouting collectibles.
Jamaica center on Route 30 and Grafton center on Route 35 both have a mix of remarkably upscale galleries and antique shops; there are more than a half-dozen locations to browse in Grafton, all within walking distance, and an equal number of venues in Jamaica, including Margie’s Muse Handweaving Gallery features an eclectic variety of handmade treasures and gifts. Fine art galleries in Grafton include Gallery North Star, Hunter Gallery of Fine Art and Jud Hartmann’s Gallery of limited edition bronze sculptures. Newell Hill Farm Antiques, located in a historic farmhouse off Route 100 in West Wardsboro, is worth the ride up the steep lane for the shop’s vintage and folksy inventory, as well as for the view from the top.A huge assortment of collectibles can be found along Route 5 in Bellows Falls at Big Red Barn Antiques, a group shop, and in the center of town there are two tiny shops guaranteed to have undiscovered treasures: Klick Antiques and Sharon Boccelli & Company Antiques. Not to be overlooked in Putney is a pint-sized place on Route 5 called Swirl – it is part vintage clothing and part group shop stuffed with collectibles, small furnishings and decorative objects. The largest antiques group shop and consignment business in Windham County is Twice Upon a Time on Main Street in Brattleboro with its three department-store sized levels; the basement is all furniture, the main floor is a mix of collectibles and furniture, and the mezzanine is jam-packed with vintage clothing and funky accessories. Just down the street is Verde for Home & Garden and across the street is Dragon Fly Drygoods—both offer a variety of treasures for the home and garden.
COUNTRY STORES were not invented in the Green Mountain State, but the art of stocking the idyllic village shop with desirable goods and gifts certainly seems to have been perfected there. Up front, most stores are guaranteed to carry the usual convenience items, everything from soup to soap, but in between the aisles there are likely to be knitted, crocheted or quilted clothing and decorator items, artisan foods, such as chutneys, wild berry jams and native honey, interesting arts and handicrafts, and, oh yes, barrelsful of old-fashioned made-from-maple syrup candy. Route 30 from Brattleboro travels past the Newfane Country Store, a shop with its authentic 19th century interior still intact; clerks there weigh out every kind of penny candy ever made and, in addition, regularly stock more than 150 hand-stitched quilts. Off Route 5, is the Putney General Store, housed in a historic building where the bare-wood floors still creak underfoot - it has a deli, scoop shop and an old-fashioned soda fountain. The Grafton Village Store, purveyors of full-deli meals, fine wines, and Grafton Cheese, has a space reserved between the pot-bellied stove and the coffee counter just for “settin’ and chattin’.”
Another small-town classic, with a screen door that bangs loudly every time customers walk in and out, is the Wardsboro Country Store off Route 100 selling local honey, jams, jellies, maple syrup and hand-made candies, all of which are the ideal take-home gifts for visitors.The tiny-but-gourmet-chic Williamsville Country Store offers a wide-variety of made-to-order items from its deli kitchen and, overall, it is an excellent place to put together a sumptuous picnic heavy with imported specialties and local delicacies. A highlight of The Vermont Country Store in Rockingham is the famous mail order catalog company’s Common Cracker machine where visitors can watch the biscuits being cranked out while nibbling on free samples. It is a popular emporium of household goods, woodenwares, toys, personal care products, clothing and you-name-it paraphernalia.
FINE ARTS and CRAFTS are typically the most sought items after by shoppers in Southeastern Vermont. A region that for centuries has been fertile for creativity in the form of Yankee ingenuity, turns out to be even an more inspiring setting for hundreds of talented artists. From paintings to pottery, from hand-stitched quilts to hand-turned wooden bowls, most shops and galleries have a mix of media, styles and price ranges in artisan goods and fine arts. In Brattleboro, Vermont Artisan Designs is the best place for art lovers to get the big picture of the diversity of quality painting, photography and crafts that the region has to offer because it has more than 300 artists and artisans represented on two elegantly-designed levels. Also in Brattleboro, the Cotton Mill Studios, a three-story century-old brick and wood-beam complex, allows visitors to see over 25 artists in action making furniture, blown glass, ceramics, paintings, films, music, toys and more. It’s been called “a burgeoning artists enclave.” The artists’ December open house and annual sale is an exciting way to learn about arts and crafts techniques as well as to shop for not-from-the-mall Secret Santa gifts.Off by itself in a quiet corner of Windham County, is the Jelly Bean Tree on Route 121 in Saxton’s River; more than 60 country artists and craftspeople co-op this compact and colorful gallery space which is part of a larger and vibrant community arts education center.Village fairs and holiday weekends give visitors some of the best opportunities to shop for arts and crafts, and among the premier shows is the Newfane Heritage Festival on Columbus Day Weekend. Two years ago, the Philadelphia Inquirer named this juried show one of its best "10 for the Road" events from the mid-Atlantic to New England. During the annual 4th of July Parade in Wardsboro Village, dozens of regional painters and hometown crafters set up an artsy street market several hours before the marching begins and thousands of people stroll Main Street to browse the booths and tents. In July, in South Newfane, visitors can follow wherever the road, river or curiosity takes them to visit the 18 artist’s studios that make up the Rock River Artists Open Studio Tour. Each November in Putney, along Route 5, resident artists host a weekend of casual self-guided Studio Crafts Tours.
BOOKSTORES are a lot like community centers in many Southeastern Vermont towns. Most are independent-owned and have evolved into family-friendly gathering places where folks can search for a good vacation read, buy the latest biography, score a first-edition classic, or pick up books on local lore and history. The bookworms’ favorite shops are the ones with cozy nooks and comfy seats where they can steal a few quiet literary moments.
Travelers who read and readers who travel can find all the classic and modern literature they need in Brattleboro’s bookstores, all clustered within walking distance: Everyone’s Books, Collected Works, Baskets Paperback Palace, Brattleboro Books (well known as southern Vermont’s largest used bookstore) and The Book Cellar are all well-stocked shops. A few miles north on Route 5 in Putney is Hearthstone Books, a community-minded shop selling both new and used books. Route 5 leads into Bellows Falls, the location of Village Square Booksellers, which offers an eclectic and current selection, and Arch Bridge Bookshop, a goldmine of used books. At Austin’s Antiquarian Books, one-half mile west of Wilmington Center, shoppers find fine old leather bindings and shelves loaded with books on antiques, art and history.
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