In these times of big-box stores and nonchalant employee assistance, you’re hard pressed to get good old-fashioned service with a smile. But if you ever find yourself traveling along US Rt. 2 in East Montpelier, Vermont, and you need anything from a hammer to a home-baked pie, you’ll also get down-home friendliness and a knowledgeable staff at Plainfield Hardware—all within a 3,600-square-foot log cabin storefront. Since 1999, Richard and Gaye Christiansen have owned and operated their business on one basic principle: listen to your customers. And what they’ve heard is that their neighbors want a one-stop shop where they could buy all their necessities and regulars could meet to shoot the breeze without making a trip into town. Literally offering everything from soup (they feature locally made daily specials) to nuts (the hardware department is fully stocked), their country store is happy to oblige.
Wanting to go local at every opportunity, Richard and Gaye chose Hartland-based Real Log Homes to supply their log package and nearby builder and Real representative Mark Elliott to make it all come together. As log homeowners for the past 19 years, the Christiansens were well aware of the warm, comforting feeling a log home can bring, and they believed their customers would feel the same way. They were right. In recent years, the couple, with help from their son, has expanded their hardware operation to include local wines, animal feed, gardening supplies and plants and, of course, genuine Vermont maple syrup.
For more information about Plainfield Hardware, Farm Market & Garden Center, call 802-454-1000.
To get in touch with Real Log Homes, call 800-732-5564.
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