[E]very year, more than a million people step through the doors of an old-fashioned country store established in Weston, Vt., where hard-to-find products and long-lost brands take them on a trip down memory lane.
Dim lighting, smells of Vermont cheeses and kerosene, long-forgotten candies — like Reeds Hard Candy or Necco Wafers — transport people back to childhood.
Soon the clothing, toys and games from another era at the Vermont Country Store will be conjuring up memories at a new location in Stowe.
In 1946, Vrest Orton, one of three founding editors of Vermont Life Magazine, and his wife, Ellen, opened the Vermont Country Store in Weston, inspired by childhood memories of Vrest’s father’s general store in North Calais. In 1967, the Orton family opened its second location in Rockingham.
Now, after five decades, the Ortons — who still own and operate the Vermont Country Store — are looking to open a third store in northern Vermont.
“For a while, a lot of people have asked if we had any interest in opening another store in their town,” Eliot Orton, third-generation owner, said. “After a while, we thought we’d open another store, but in Vermont first, because we are the Vermont Country Store.”
Orton and his brothers, Cabot and Gardner, have been scouting the state for a few years now in search of a suitable site, and recently came upon “a promising location in Stowe.”
The Ortons won’t name the exact location until they pull together all of the details and meet with the development review board in January to determine if it’s the right fit and can handle the expected traffic.
“To be opening the first new store after that long, we need to create something that blows people away,” Orton said. “We also need to make sure that what we want works with the zoning regulations in town.”
So, why open a new location after 50 years?
When their father, Lyman, was running the store, he saw mail-order as the place to build and expand the business. Orton and his brothers assumed lead roles in 2005, and have since worked to expand their web-based market.
Now the third-generation owners “have the time and the inclination, and want to grow,” Orton said.
“The business never stops changing. We just added three new buildouts to the Rockingham store. Right now we are looking at things the locals would love to see in Stowe. … Stowe is a huge draw,” he said.
The new store will have a similar look and feel as the other two stores — portraying the way life and old general stores used to be, Orton said — but the brothers are not just set on replication. Both stores have their own charm, and they want to add something new in Stowe, though they’re not yet sure what that might be.
“We will be looking for support from the town and the residents as we get closer,” Orton said.
For more information on The Vermont Country Store’s history and products: vermontcountrystore.com.
