Donald McGrory's Oriental Rugs has relocated from 24 Railroad St. to 276 Main St., leaving behind its home of 12 years. Meanwhile, Robin Helfand, owner of Robin's candy shop on Main Street, plans to open a new store this winter in the now-vacant Railroad Street space.
"The old space was really small, I'd kind of really outgrown it," said Donald McGrory, whose store sells antique rugs and tribal jewelry.
McGrory, who opened his first store on Castle Street more than 15 years ago, said he had been interested in the Main Street space for years because of its size and large window space at its entrance.
"What we're going to do here isn't going to be that different than what we've been doing for 15 or so years here in town," said McGrory. "We're just going to be doing it in a nicer space."
McGrory said the new location allows merchandise to be more readily accessible to shoppers, as it is more than twice the size of the Railroad Street space.
Helfand, meanwhile, is already in the process of laying out her second store in town - You Are Here. The title is a play on the location designators found on maps, and the exterior windows of the space are currently covered with large maps with designations of where Great Barrington is.
The store will
"It was really customer driven," said Helfand of the decision to start another store. She opened her candy shop in June of 2008, and found the most popular items were ones related to the area, like the green, circular bumper stickers that read "BRK" for the Berkshires.
"In a candy store, I'm selling more BRK bumper stickers than Jelly Bellys," said Helfand, who is reaching out to local artisans interested in selling their food and art work in her shop, too.
Helfand added that the new store will feature some of the hallmarks of the candy shop, like selling unique and fun items, while being interactive, and environmentally and family-friendly.
To reach Trevor Jones: (413) 528-3660 or tjones@berkshireeagle.com.
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