2008 Great Places to Shop - Spring

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2 Great Places to Shop A Hersam Acorn Newspapers publication

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A Hersam Acorn Newspapers Publication

Berkshire PennySaver News154 West Park Street, Lee, MA 01238

413-234-2341

Yankee News Guide20 Cleveland Road, Dalton, MA 01226

413-684-1373

TriState Pennysaver News109 South Street, Bennington, VT 05201

802-447-3381

Vermont News Guide99 Bonnet St., Manchester Center, VT 05255

802-362-3535

Renee Tassone, General Manager

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A Hersam Acorn Newspapers publication Great Places to Shop 3

Where’d You Get That?By Telly HalkiasYou’ve probably heard of the saying “What’s in a name?”In the case of the popular Williamstown gift shop Where’d

You Get That?, the answer is undoubtedly: everything.Perched in its current Spring Street location for the last four

years, the shop with the odd but very recog-nizable name had bounced around sev-eral loca-tions since it was founded 16 years ago by Ken and M i c h e l e Gietz.

According to administrative assistant Cassie Chilson, Where’d You Get That? lives up to its cachet every day with its attention-grabbing gifts, and the reaction from it’s customers, both tourists, students, and locals.

“You can really find everything from the serious to the silly in here,” Grudin said while helping a customer find a gift for

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Evans’ NewsBy Telly HalkiasFor a retail business to survive a

century and still be going strong, it probably means it’s had to reinvent itself several times to keep its public appeal.

And that’s the case with Evans’ News, a downtown icon in Bennington that is entering its 101st year of doing business on Main Street. Originally started as the main newspaper distributorship in south-

ern Vermont, Evans’ is one of the most visited stores in town, for both residents and visitors.

“I’ll tell you something: it’s never boring here and we try to keep up with what our customers need,” sales associate Judy Pennock said recently between ringing up sales.

That repertoire includes an expansion 10 years ago to branch out into gift shop territory, a move that proved popular with tourists

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an upcoming occasion. “But regardless, what you’ll always get is something interesting.”

Interesting indeed. A stroll around the aisles quickly revealed some classic strat-egy games, such as chess, Risk, and Stratego. Then a neighboring shelf was full of novelties and gags. A partic-ularly striking example was the Sigmund Freud action figure.

Joke books, calendars, stuffed animal dolls and psy-chedelic handbags rounded out a typical search, with dozens of more items avail-able, each more of a surprise than its adjacent counter-part.

The store offers national shipping, a service that Ken Gietz finds invaluable.

“During the busy season it can get a little crazy in here,” Gietz said. “Some people buy so much, they need us to ship it home for them.”

“That’s a problem we’ll always welcome.”

For more info visit www.wygt.com

Telly Halkias is a freelance writer and editor. E-mail: [email protected]

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seeking souvenirs and mementos as well as locals looking for presents and other sundry items.

Along with a full line of drinks and snacks, shoppers at Evans’ can find an extensive inventory of maple products, Ty dolls, t-shirts, hats, greeting cards, and of course, the original staple: newspapers. They can also visit Bennington Pride, Evans’ in-store moose.

Evans’ also serves a broad base of business needs, to include office furniture and general supplies. Owner George Krawczyk held up the 1000+ page store catalog as a proud reminder of Evans’ diversity.

“Many folks might not know it, but we still have strong cata-log sales, especially to other businesses,” Krawczyk said.

“In this day, you’ve got to have a little bit of everything for everyone.”

For more info visit www.bennington.com/EvansNews

Telly Halkias is a free-lance writer and editor. E-mail: [email protected]

Evans’ Newscontinued from page 4

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jewelry

chocolate

glass

wood

pottery

bags

cards

books

clothing

VALENTINE’S DAY SALE

BUY 1 GET 150% OFFThursday, February 14th

STOREWIDE*

craftsmarket

hawkinshouse *Of equal or lesser

value. Excluding itemsalready on sale.

262 north street • bennington, vermont • 802-447-0488

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Use Less Stuff While Shopping:Save Money and the Environment

(ARA) - If the desire to “go green” leaves you feeling a bit overwhelmed, keep it simple with a “less is more” attitude, advises Bob Lilienfeld, sustainability expert and author of “Use Less Stuff.” You’ll be amazed at how simple lifestyle changes can affect your impact on the environment and your budget.

Recycling has long been touted as the centerpiece of envi-ronmentally conscious behavior, Lilienfeld notes. But the truth is that recycling by itself can’t solve the environmental issues we’re now facing. “The real key to saving the planet is to shop smarter so that we manage our consumption and stop creating waste,” he says “Beyond recycling, we need to reduce and reuse in all areas of our life.”

Here are Lilienfeld’s tips on how to shop with a “use less stuff” mindset:

Make a List, Check it TwiceThe best way to get what you need -- and not what you

don’t -- is to start from a list. Doing so keeps you from pur-chasing impulse items that you really don’t need and have to pay for. And, if you include items that you’re almost out of, you’ll prevent yourself from having to run out for that one thing you either ran out of or forgot to buy. So, you’ll save time, money, and gasoline.

Less is MoreConcentrated products are better for the environment

because they use fewer natural resources. Concentrated prod-

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ucts not only mean less waste, but also less weight you have to carry around. Concentrated products use 22 percent to 43 percent less packaging and up to 44 percent less water in the formulation than before, so you get a product that is a better choice for the planet, without any performance sacrifice.

A great place to find concentrated products is the detergent aisle. There are a number of top brand detergents, like Tide, Gain, Cheer, Era and Dreft that have been recently reformu-lated to provide the same number of loads in detergent bottles that are about half the size, resulting in a more convenient product that is easier to carry, pour and store.

Reduce, Reuse, Refill Buy refills for your favorite products. Take a spray bottle

for example. You really don’t need a new sprayer, just more cleaner. Buying the larger refill bottles means you throw away less, get more product, and save money, too, since you’re not paying for a spray top that you really don’t need.

A Bright IdeaInvest in the just-introduced, second generation compact

fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs. They last 16 times as long, use 75 percent less energy, and now provide light that’s as natural looking as standard incandescent bulbs.

For more information on how using less stuff can help the environment, visit www.use-less-stuff.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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Documents

2008 Great Places to Shop - Spring