Vermont Country Store
A family-operated Vermont retailer, catalog company, and e-commerce business known for traditional general-store merchandise and nostalgic American products.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
The Vermont Country Store is an American retail and direct-to-consumer business based in Weston, Vermont. Established by Vrest and Mildred Ellen Orton, it combines physical country stores, mail-order catalogs, and e-commerce. The business is operated by the Orton family and has built its identity around the preservation and sale of useful, familiar, and often nostalgic goods associated with the traditional American general store. The company’s roots reach back to a general store opened in Calais, Vermont, in 1897 by Gardner Lyman Orton and his father-in-law, Melvin Teachout. Gardner’s son Vrest grew up around that store, which later became the model for his own retail concept. Before entering the family business, Vrest served in the U.S. military during World War I, studied at Harvard, worked in publishing and journalism, founded the literary magazine The Colophon, and established The Countryman Press in Weston. During World War II he worked at the Pentagon as a speechwriter and publicist. These experiences helped shape the company’s early emphasis on printed catalogs, storytelling, typography, and regional identity. The retail venture began in late 1945 with a small mail-order catalog titled The Voice of the Mountains. Vrest printed the 12-page catalog on a press in his garage, and Mildred initially mailed it to people on her family Christmas-card list. The response encouraged the couple to purchase a two-story building in Weston, constructed in 1827 and formerly used as a country inn. They opened The Vermont Country Store there in spring 1946. The building and its presentation as a functioning historic country store became central to the brand’s appeal. National awareness increased after a 1952 Saturday Evening Post article about Vrest and the store. The resulting publicity expanded the company’s mail-order audience and attracted visitors from across the United States. The Ortons subsequently broadened the business beyond the original Weston location. In 1959 they acquired the neighboring property and opened the Bryant House restaurant. In 1968 they opened a second store on Route 103 in Rockingham, Vermont, a site featuring a mill pond, a restored gristmill with a water wheel, and a covered bridge. The company’s merchandise spans food, household items, apparel, personal-care products, gifts, and other goods selected for practical use, traditional styling, or a connection to earlier eras of American life. Its retail model relies on the combination of destination stores, catalogs, and online ordering rather than on a conventional national chain of department stores. The brand’s distinctive positioning is therefore less about low-price mass retail and more about curation, heritage, regional atmosphere, and access to products that may be difficult to find elsewhere. Leadership has remained within the Orton family. Vrest and Mildred’s son Lyman became president in 1972, and later generations, including Cabot, Gardner, and Eliot Orton, continued operating the business. In 2010, the Orton grandsons opened Mildred’s Dairy Bar at the Bryant House in memory of Mildred Orton. The dairy bar serves classic New England roadside food and Wilcox’s ice cream from a Manchester, Vermont, farm. The Vermont Country Store consequently functions both as a retailer and as a heritage-oriented visitor destination, with its historic sites, restaurant, and dairy bar reinforcing the brand’s connection to Vermont life.
History
The Vermont Country Store developed from the Orton family’s long connection with Vermont general-store culture. In 1897, Gardner Lyman Orton and his father-in-law, Melvin Teachout, established a general store in Calais, Vermont. Gardner’s son Vrest was born that same year and spent part of his early life in an environment where the general store served as a community institution. This experience later informed his vision for a retail business that would preserve the atmosphere and usefulness of the traditional country store. Vrest pursued a varied career before returning to Vermont. After World War I, he attended Harvard and briefly worked in the U.S. Consular Service. In New York he held positions connected with publishing and journalism, including work with The American Mercury, Alfred A. Knopf, the Saturday Review of Literature, and Life magazine. He also founded The Colophon, a magazine devoted to book collecting and typography. In 1930 he returned to Weston, where he later married Mildred Ellen Wilcox. The couple founded The Countryman Press in 1936, establishing an early publishing and editorial foundation for the later retail enterprise. During World War II, Vrest worked at the Pentagon as a speechwriter and publicist. While there, he developed the idea of recreating the character of the family general store through a combination of retailing and mail order. In autumn 1945, he and Mildred tested the concept with The Voice of the Mountains, a 12-page catalog containing 36 items. Vrest produced the catalog on a printing press in his garage, while Mildred sent copies to contacts on her family Christmas-card list. This small-scale experiment marked the beginning of the company’s catalog operation. The couple opened the first Vermont Country Store in spring 1946 after purchasing a two-story building in Weston that dated to 1827 and had previously been a country inn. The site was restored and operated as a country store, making the physical environment itself part of the offering. The Weston location later became recognized as a historic property and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Rather than treating history solely as decoration, the business used the store’s architecture, merchandise selection, and service style to create a destination associated with Vermont tradition. The catalog expanded the store’s reach beyond local visitors. A major turning point came in 1952, when the Saturday Evening Post published a feature about Vrest and the business. The publication’s large national readership generated widespread attention, inquiries, and increased interest in visiting Weston. The publicity also validated the company’s use of mail order as a way to distribute the country-store concept throughout the United States. The Ortons expanded the physical business in stages. In 1959 they purchased the property beside the Weston store and opened the Bryant House restaurant. In 1968 they established a second Vermont Country Store on Route 103 in Rockingham. The Rockingham site incorporated landscape and heritage features, including a mill pond, a working-style gristmill with a water wheel, and a restored covered bridge. These additions strengthened the company’s role as a visitor destination as well as a retailer. Vrest and Mildred’s son Lyman became president in 1972. The business subsequently continued as a multigenerational family enterprise, with grandsons Cabot, Gardner, and Eliot Orton involved in its operation. In 2010, the family added Mildred’s Dairy Bar at the Bryant House, naming it for Mildred and serving classic New England roadside food with Wilcox’s ice cream from a Manchester, Vermont, farm. Over time, the company maintained its combined retail, catalog, and e-commerce model. Its merchandise assortment centers on food, clothing, household products, personal-care goods, gifts, and other items selected for their traditional character, practicality, or nostalgic appeal. The business remains distinguished by its family ownership, Vermont locations, historic-store presentation, and direct relationship with customers through printed and digital commerce.
- 2010
Mildred’s Dairy Bar opens
[1]The Orton grandsons opened Mildred’s Dairy Bar at the Bryant House in honor of Mildred Orton.
- 1972
Lyman Orton becomes president
[1]Vrest and Mildred Orton’s son Lyman became president, continuing family management of the company.
- 1968
Second store opens in Rockingham
[1]The company opened a second store on Route 103 in Rockingham, featuring heritage-oriented site elements such as a gristmill and covered bridge.
- 1959
Bryant House restaurant opens
[1]The Ortons acquired the neighboring property in Weston and opened the Bryant House restaurant.
- 1952
National exposure through the Saturday Evening Post
[1]A Saturday Evening Post feature brought substantial national attention and increased inquiries from prospective customers and visitors.
- 1946
Weston store opens
[1]The first Vermont Country Store opened in a restored 1827 building in Weston, Vermont.
- 1945
First mail-order catalog
[1]Vrest and Mildred Orton issued The Voice of the Mountains, a small catalog that tested the mail-order business before the physical store opened.
- 1897
Teachout-Orton general store opens in Calais
[1]Gardner Lyman Orton and Melvin Teachout opened a Vermont general store that later influenced Vrest Orton’s concept for The Vermont Country Store.
Products and positioning
A heritage-oriented, family-operated general-store retailer that combines Vermont tourism, nostalgia, practical merchandise, catalogs, and e-commerce. The brand emphasizes discovery, traditional American products, and the atmosphere of an authentic country store rather than a standardized mass-market retail experience.
Food retail
Food and pantry goods
The company’s food assortment reflects the general-store concept and includes traditional, regional, nostalgic, and specialty pantry items. These products support the brand’s emphasis on familiar American tastes and hard-to-find goods sold through its stores, catalogs, and online channels.
Clothing
Apparel and footwear
The Vermont Country Store offers clothing and footwear selected for everyday practicality, traditional styling, comfort, and seasonal use. The category contributes to the retailer’s broader proposition of providing durable or recognizable items associated with earlier forms of American shopping.
Home merchandise
Household and kitchen goods
Household merchandise includes kitchen supplies, home-use products, furnishings, and other general-store items. The assortment is curated around utility, traditional design, and products that evoke the practical range of an independent country store.
Beauty and personal care
Personal-care products
Personal-care merchandise forms part of the company’s catalog and e-commerce assortment. These goods fit the retailer’s focus on useful, familiar, and sometimes nostalgic products that customers may not readily encounter in contemporary mass retail.
Gifts
Gifts and nostalgic general-store merchandise
Gift and novelty merchandise reinforces the Vermont Country Store’s destination-retail identity. Items are selected for their connection to traditional American life, Vermont heritage, seasonal occasions, or memories of earlier retail eras.
Food service · 1959
Bryant House restaurant offerings
The Bryant House extends the brand beyond merchandise into hospitality, offering restaurant service at the Weston site. It supports the company’s role as a place to visit and experience a historic country-store setting.
Food service · 2010
Mildred’s Dairy Bar
Mildred’s Dairy Bar serves classic New England roadside food and Wilcox’s ice cream supplied from a farm in Manchester, Vermont. It was created as a tribute to Mildred Orton and complements the Bryant House visitor experience.
Brand decisions
2010
Addition of Mildred’s Dairy BarOtherBackground
The family sought to honor co-founder Mildred Orton while adding to the hospitality experience around the Bryant House.
Action taken
The Orton grandsons opened Mildred’s Dairy Bar and named it after her.
Aftermath
The dairy bar broadened the company’s visitor offering with classic New England food and locally sourced ice cream.
1968
Expansion to a second store in RockinghamStrategyBackground
Growing public awareness and the company’s destination-retail model supported expansion beyond Weston.
Action taken
The company opened a second location on Route 103 in Rockingham with a mill pond, gristmill, water wheel, and covered bridge.
Aftermath
The expansion reinforced the brand’s use of historic and scenic settings as part of its retail proposition.
1946
Opening of the historic Weston destination storeStrategyBackground
The initial catalog business created an opportunity to establish a physical retail location embodying the general-store concept.
Action taken
The Ortons purchased and opened a restored 1827 building in Weston as The Vermont Country Store.
Aftermath
The historic setting became a defining part of the brand and helped position the company as both a retailer and a Vermont visitor destination.
1945
Launch of a catalog-led country-store modelStrategyBackground
Vrest and Mildred Orton wanted to extend the traditional Vermont general-store concept beyond a single local shop.
Action taken
They issued The Voice of the Mountains, a small mail-order catalog, before opening the Weston store.
Aftermath
The catalog response helped establish the combined retail and direct-mail model that later developed into catalog and e-commerce operations.
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