Berkshire Mountain Country Store relocates to Lee’s Main Street

[media-credit id=3 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]LEE – Berkshire Mountain Country Store, a shopper’s paradise, has moved, lock, stock and barrel, from a huge building at 55 Pittsfield Rd. in Lenox to a house, dating to the 1830s, at 151 Main St. in town.

“We went from a barn to a house,” Teresa O’Brient, who owns the store with her husband, Alan.

The quaint building in which they are now located was the former site of Karen Keenan, a gift shop that moved farther down Main Street, and before that, it housed the Pamela Loring shop.

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Berkshire Mountain Country Store had been located in a huge, 6,000-square-foot building on Pittsfield Road where Pine Cone Hill used to be.  Old-timers call the location the (former) Lenox Shops.

New business in former location

Mrs. O’Brient said her lease was up, and she was informed by the landlord that another business offered to pay three times more than the amount of rent Berkshire Mountain Country Store paid.

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“He made us an offer we had to refuse,” Mrs. O’Brient laughed. “I don’t know exactly what’s going in there. Some kind of furniture or home décor store is the rumor.”

The new space of the country store is smaller, at 2,200 square feet, “but not too small,” Mrs. O’Brient said.

The staff of the country store pitched-in, packed thousands of items and hauled them over to the new quarters in their own cars.

“Cool people work for us,” Mrs. O’Brient said. “All of our staff pitched-in.”

They even volunteered their time to get the job done.

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Staff thank you pizza party

“We then had a pizza party and had a lot of fun,” the owner said. “It made me feel good about humanity. We are all friends.”

Getting the huge job done in record time was a testament to how hard everybody worked, she said.

Boxes then had to be unpacked, displays set up and so on. All together, employees, the owner and her husband completed the entire monumental transaction in five days.

Some concessions had to be made.

For example, vintage wedding clothes that used to be displayed on the second floor of the store are now going to be housed upstairs from Williams and Sons Country Store, also owned by the O’Brients. They will be seen only by appointment.

Items in a year-round Christmas shop had to be packed away until that holiday rolls around. The new space does not allow for a year-round Christmas room.

[/media-credit] Lilly Dalton, employee, oversees the huge variety of penny candy. Kids will love this section of the country store!

Compromises made

“We had to make some compromises,” Mrs. O’Brient said. “The great thing in Lee is that it is a better lease with option to buy in a couple of years.”

Merchandise at the  country store is diverse, colorful, whimsical and just plain fun.

“I try to carry things you don’t find at the big box store,” the owner said. “I try to keep it a place where I like to shop.”

She added she also tries to keep prices “not too expensive” so there’s something everyone can afford.

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People who love to shop had better take a deep breath when entering the new quarters of the country store. They are in for quite a treat.

The first sign seen on the wall says, “Your husband called. He said you could buy anything you want.”

That starts a shopping excursion off with a smile.

The Polish pottery, which comes in a variety of patterns and shades of primarily blue, is stunning but on the pricy side for someone on a strict budget.

Huge variety of merchandise

Inside Berkshire Mountain Country Store are apple peelers and other kitchen paraphernalia, candles, dish towels with sayings, jams and jugs, lavender water, maple products, a variety of placemats, Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls and all kinds of signs that make you laugh.

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A succinct one simply states “Mancave.”

How about one of these for your boss? “It’s nice to be important…but it’s more important to be nice,” or “Change the world one act of kindness at a time.”

Pet lovers will love this sign:  “Dogs accept you as boss. Cats want to see your resume.”

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Baby boomers coming face-to-face with changes that the passing of years bring will get a kick out of this one:  “Middle age is when your legs buckle and your belt won’t.”

The Berkshire Mountain Country Store will more than likely be offering unique merchandise from its new location for many years to come.

Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero on June 6, 2013. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry