Today in Stowe the sun is out, the snow is melting and the air feels great; today finally feels like spring!  And though we all have our own celebrations and rituals for welcoming the longer days, here at Stowe Mercantile, we have our own very set pattern for this time of year.

There’s certainly cleaning and painting and remodeling that we tackle every spring and though that gives the store a new look, it’s really about all the product we’ve purchased for spring and summer.  By now we’ve attended two or three trade shows; from Atlanta to Las Vegas and probably Chicago and New York, we’ve logged some miles and plenty of nights in hotels.   But it’s always exciting to walk these shows and see what’s new for the coming season.   We’ll decide which product lines to drop, which to expand, how much space we’ll devote to every product, where we’ll place the products in the store – and most importantly – how our guests will react to our choices.  In the end it doesn’t matter how much we like something, if it doesn’t sell, we’ve failed our guests and we’ve failed the business.

Our clothing lines are on the way; orange and red are big this year, full length casual dresses are here again this summer and new this summer is our own line of dresses we designed – with our own label!  I’m sure they’ll be a hit!

Our specialty foods are expanding again this year.  We have several new Stowe Mercantile Mustards and spreads and we’re working on our own line of dry mixes; muffins and pancakes.  Stonewall Kitchen and King Arthur Flour always introduce new products and we’ll have a good selection of them too.  We’re expanding our offering of fudge flavors to incorporate more seasonal themes so watch for that.

Keep an eye on our website or if you have the chance come by the store, say hi to us and see what we’re up to.