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Vermont country store thinking big
By: Susan Bush - November 19th, 2004
BENNINGTON, Vt. — A company known for bringing products from the past to customers of the present is planning to bring jobs to the town's future.
Vermont Country Store President and CEO Robert W. Allen said Monday that a customer-service operation scheduled to open at 210 South St. in 2005 should have 20 "seats" or "work stations" in place by July. Customer Service Director Lynn Jeffrey said Tuesday that "seats" are often occupied by more than one employee, because the firm accepts daytime and evening product orders. During peak seasons, expanded ordering hours may be offered, she said. The company offers full-time, part-time and seasonal employment options, she said.
Customer-service workers employed at a Manchester site are expected to move to the town center by October, which would increase the number of seats to 70. Other company departments at the Manchester center will not be moved to Bennington.
"I think this will be huge for Bennington," Allen said. "We've been well-received, and people are anxious to have us come."
He said that the service center would occupy the entire second floor of the renovated building owned by Dorset businessman Jack Appelman. Allen said the Vermont Store operation should occupy the building in February.
The firm's average hourly pay rate is between $9 and $12 per hour, depending on the specific job, and bonuses and profit-sharing opportunities are offered. Medical and dental plans are part of the firm's benefit package, as are life insurance, a 401K plan and a unique dependent-care reimbursement plan. Additional amenities include wellness programs and a 40-percent employee discount for store items.
"We are a good employer," Allen said.
Last week, the Selectmen approved a parking plan that reserves 100 parking spaces for company workers. Over a five-year span, the number of necessary spaces is expected to increase to 150, and the parking plan devised by Economic and Community Development Director William Colvin includes space at the 210 South St. parking lot, on Hillside Avenue, at the town municipal building parking lot and other nearby lots. Should the more distant spaces be used, officials of the local chapter of the American Red Cross have reportedly agreed to offer a shuttle service for company employees.
Allen said that his 23-year company tenure will conclude with his retirement at the end of this year. William "Bill" Shouldice has been appointed company president and CEO, Allen said. Shouldice served as the president and CEO of the Orton Family Foundation for five years and prior to that, served as state secretary of commerce and development after being appointed to the job by former Gov. Richard Snelling. Snelling died suddenly in 1991 while still in office, and Shouldice then served under former Gov. Howard Dean, who was Snelling's lieutenant governor and ascended to the governorship after his death.
The company was founded by Vrest and Ellen Orton as a Weston-based mail-order catalogue business in 1945. By 1946, the catalogue had captured nationwide interest and generated an interesting dilemma.
"Because of the catalogue, people around the country started hearing about a store in Weston, Vt., that revived memories of days gone by," according to a written company history. "Scores of customers wrote to ask how they could find Weston and the Vermont Country Store. However, there was one small problem. There wasn't an actual store."
Vrest Orton opened the first retail shop in 1946, and in 1952, the Saturday Evening Post magazine published an article about the store titled "The Happy Shopkeeper of the Green Mountains." In 1967, a second store opened in Rockingham. In addition to catalogues and retail stores, the business hosts an Internet Web site at www.vermontcountrystore.com.
The business offers over 5,600 items, including hard-to-find, popular products from past decades. Included in the product line is Evening in Paris and Tabu women's fragrances, Tangee lipstick, Ship 'N Shore blouses, horehound drops, Horlick's malted milk tablets, and Teaberry, Black Jack and Beeman's chewing gum.
Company buyers and research teams scour the globe to find products that are sought by customers, Allen said.
"The customers identify the products for us, and we go to great lengths to find it," he said, adding that items no longer offered through mainstream marketing are often still produced on a limited basis, or are still manufactured overseas.
"We search high and wide to find the products that people remember," he said.
That is the secret to the company's success, he said.
"We don't sell products; we sell memories; we sell nostalgia."
The firm experiences a slow but steady growth, and that contributes to its longevity, Allen said.
"We'll still be around in 20 years," he said, adding that other retail venues may be part of the firm's future.
"We're constantly looking at retail opportunities," he said. |
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