The Vermont Country Store

Full review
I spent summers in Vermont when I was a kid, and it’s always been one of my favorite states. I love the small-town feel of the place, and the lovely small-scale landscapes. I haven’t been there in about 40 years, though, so I’ve been pushing Penguinman to go there someday soon; I’m anxious to visit my old haunts and see how well my memory has held up.

One of the places I definitely intend to visit is The Vermont Country Store This store, established in 1948, has two locations, in Weston and Rockingham. The mission of the store, as enunciated by its founder, Vrest Orton, and continued by his sons, is to sell “items that are useful, work, and make sense.” Solid New England values, those, and they have met them admirably.

Unlike some web businesses, this one exists in the real world as well, and I imagine it to be a warm, friendly place dedicated to the unfortunately old-fashioned virtues of helpfulness, value, quality, and ethical business practices. And a pot-bellied stove. Until I actually get to visit the real thing, my web-shopping experiences will have to do.


WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR WHEN YOU SHOP HERE

This is the place to go for simple, every-day items that probably aren’t available in brick & mortar stores. The stock is divided into 28 categories, including clothing, kitchenware, domestics, candy, accessories, apothecary, problem-solvers, toys, sleepwear, crafts, underwear, gifts under various price ceilings, Christmas, food, household, Yankee bargains, and customer favorites. My favorite category is “Brands from the Past.”

Everything sold at The Vermont Country Store meets the goal of being useful, working well, and making sense. (Well, I guess Blackjack Chewing Gum - remember those black sticks of gum wrapped in pale blue? - makes sense...) As you leaf through their catalog or website, you’ll see that the items are plain and mostly utilitarian. Here you can find an old-fashioned breadbox, or a corduroy jumper, or a hand egg-beater. I’ve bought Glass Wax, in the familiar pink tin, that we used to use to “paint” on the windows, and a pair of clear plastic overshoes for my mother, the ones that button down on the side of the ankle. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. This is a terrific place for nostalgia shopping, or for useful items for your grandparents. Or yourself, if you prefer simple, straightforward products.

But don’t get me wrong. This is not a haven for neo-Luddites. There are electric and electronic items here, but only those that are sensible, simple, and sturdy. While you can get an electric toaster-oven, it won't be one of the high-end fancy ones. You won’t find an ionizing hairbrush here, but you will find a sturdy, well-made boar-bristle one. You won’t find an electric knife, but you will find a hefty chef’s knife and a generous sharpening stone. The only frivolity is in the food items, many of which are nostalgic (Horlick’s malt, Walnettos candy) or Vermont-boosters (cheeses, maple sugar products.)

For many years, their catalog was printed on newsprint and illustrated with black-and-white line drawings. Yankee thrift simply oozed from the pages. In the last year, though, two changes have occurred: The catalog is now printed in color on shiny white paper, and they have set up a complementary website.


THE WEBSITE

This is one of the best set up and functioning websites I’ve seen. It’s clear that a lot of thought and functionality has been designed into it.


Home Page

When you click on www.vermontcountrystore.com, you are taken to a colorful and informative home page. Down the left side is the Search function, with links to all the categories in which their products are arranged - 28 as this is written. Across the top is a menu bar inviting you to click on Home, About Us, Party Line, Retail Store, Request Catalog, Customer Service, and My Account. There are also links to sign in and the checkout. Beneath that is a welcome from Lyman Orton, Vrest’s son and the proprietor of the business, with links to their family foundation and some information about the store. The rest of the page features selected items, with photographs and links.

The Party Line is an unusual and helpful feature. It’s based on the old telephone party line, whereby everyone could keep up with everyone else. Today, their version is a feedback mechanism for customers. Subjects include:

• Product Suggestions - Do you want us to carry a product that you used to use but can’t find any more? Tell us about it.

• Home Town - Tell us and other the best thing you remember about where you grew up and stores from when you were a kid.

• What do you think? Your stories and thoughts about our products.

• What are others saying about The Vermont Country Store? Read all about it.


The On-line Catalog

I picked one of my favorite categories, Kitchen - natch! The page that came up retained the search and catalog categories down the left side and the menu across the top. In the center are links to Coffee and Tea, Cookware and Bakeware, Glassware, Dinner and Serveware, Kitchen Gadgets, Kitchen Essentials, Kitchen Utensils, Kitchen and Food Storage, and Table Linens. A few items are highlighted in the center of the page. A click on any of them, or any of the sub-links in the above categories, brings up a detailed description of the item with an enlarged picture, and ordering links, including price, quantity desired, and shipping information.

You can also get more information by clicking on a link beneath the photograph. And if that still isn’t enough, you can also click on the Live Chat link and “speak” directly with a CSR in Vermont. That’s what I did a few weeks ago when I wanted to know the difference between the powdered and granulated maple sugar.

There’s a link that enables you to e-mail the page to a friend, and another one, with photographs, of related items that you might like. When I clicked on the hardwood chopping bowl and mezzaluna chopper (known here as a “half-moon” chopper; none of that fancy Italian terminology here!) I got a cross-reference to a set of Vermont maple bowls in varying sizes.

You can easily browse back and forth between the categories, and items that don’t fit neatly into a single category are shown in as many as are appropriate. So you never have to worry about missing an item.

If the item you want isn’t available, a small orange screen pops up to tell you so, and gives the date when it will be shipped.


Checkout

I made my selection and clicked on Go to Checkout. This is a full-page screen with spaces for all the usual information. If you’ve opted to sign in on the home page as a “member shopper,” the information you entered initially will pop up automatically. I hadn’t done that, so had to enter it again. My only gripe is one that’s unfortunately common to purchasing websites: everything is typed in except your state of residence, which is a click-and-scroll, which I hate because it takes my hands off the keyboard and onto the mouse for no good reason; and while there is no instruction on how to enter your phone number, you’ll get a ding if you use an unauthorized symbol. I express my phone number as xxx/xxx-xxxx; on some sites, that’s OK, and on others it isn’t, but no one ever tells you in advance what format it should follow. Minor issues, to be sure, but irritants that could easily be avoided.

The next screen allows you to review and edit your order, and contains billing information.

Once you’ve completed the order, you’ll get a chance to register as a Member Shopper, with the usual benefits: faster checkout, members-only e-mail notification of specials, and a personal address book.

The final screen is the confirmation page, which you are advised to print. You will also receive an e-mail confirmation of your order.

To refamiliarize myself with the process for the purposes of writing this review, I just ordered some pine-balsam incense sticks and a small holder. The item costs $11.95, and S&H from Vermont to California comes to $7.95. There is no tax charged to orders shipped outside Vermont.


Service

I ordered a few items about two weeks ago, and received them in three days. Over the years, I’ve never had to wait more than a few days for an order unless it was unavailable when I placed the order. As I write this on a Thursday two weeks before Christmas, I expect my incense to be in my eager hands by early next week.

A phone number is provided for Customer Service. It’s in the Vermont area code, 802, so it’s not toll-free - Yankee thrift again. There’s also a link to the CS department for those who prefer to communicate by e-mail.

Finally, there’s a square at the bottom of the confirmation page with the TVCS guarantee and links for further e-mail communications:

Our Guarantee

We guarantee our merchandise to your satisfaction. We will exchange any item you return or promptly refund your money.

We invite you to visit our retail stores in Weston, VT and Rockingham VT.

For directions and store hours, click here.

Become a Preferred Shopper at the Vermont Country Store. For more information, click here.

To suggest a product, click here.


VERDICT

This is one of my favorite places to shop and browse. When I’m feeling overwhelmed by the Stuff I see advertised and in the stores, I come here for a dose of reality. Over the years, I’ve bought a number of items here (that chopping bowl and half-moon chopper is a steal, and it’s not readily available elsewhere; most kitchen stores only sell the “designer” version, which I reviewed at http://www.epinions.com/content_73923268228, and which is more expensive and not as well-designed.)

Overall, I find the site to be a curious and amusing blend of the old-fashioned and cutting-edge. The items they sell are old-fashioned, as are their core values, but their site is as high-techly well-designed, thoughtful, and easy to use as any I’ve ever seen. No glitches here; they’ve made it as easy as possible for you to shop with them.

For both these values, I give The Vermont Country Store website five stars.