By Lisa Carolin
Shoppers had a chance to see the changes at the Garden Mill when the store reopened Feb. 6 just in time for Chocolate Extravaganza.
Minor structural changes to the store included removing the built-in cabinets that ran along the south wall of the store, which makes the store feel bigger now.
“The good news is that we will be preserving some of the history of the cabinets, as I am having some of the wood made into fun, new display furniture for the store this summer,” said owner Jennifer Fairfield.
Garden Mill has added a storage room on the first floor, which Fairfield says will give them a place to store catalogs and supplies.
The store was also painted to help freshen things up. Fairfield says that January was a good time to do it since it tends to be a slow time in retail, but it didn’t mean any time off for her.
“Customers can expect to see lots of new merchandise,” said Fairfield. “My store manager Maureen and I went to the annual trade show/buying trip the second week of January and found all kinds of great new stuff. We have a whole lot of beautiful new Valentine’s Day items that I think people will find to be the perfect gift for that special person.”
She says they bought new items for every season, and that they will still be carrying many of the items customers have come to rely on like garden tools and supplies as well as structural items like trellises and fencing and garden decor items.
“I really went crazy at our pottery vendor this time, so there will be all kinds of new pots coming in the spring,” said Fairfield. “I can’t wait.”
