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BRATTLEBORO -- Marmite is coming to Brattleboro, along with other British grocery items and handmade arts and crafts.
Thanks to Penelope Wurr, shop owner and renowned glass artist, Brattleboro will be gaining a unique shop called The Retail Store.
The Retail Store was formerly located in Putney and has moved to 167 Main St., Brattleboro, the former home of Save the Corporations From Themselves.
"I'm excited and nervous about the move to Brattleboro," Wurr said. Wurr had her store in Putney for seven years, but had been contemplating moving for a while.
Wurr said she is sad to be leaving her old location, but is excited to be in Brattleboro.
"I feel completely at home there. I love the space," she said of 167 Main St. "I'd like to thank the customers I had in Putney. I really appreciated the incredible community support there. I hope they will follow me to Brattleboro."
Wurr began the relocation process in the beginning of May and opened Memorial Day weekend, a brief three week moving process. The grand opening of her shop will be in July.
The concept for the store is upscale, but whimsical, she said.
"It's a little different," Wurr explained.
The Retail Store will sell Wurr's own crafts such as place settings, bowls, vases, and other decorative pieces. All of her crafts are unique pieces that would shine in any home. The shop will also carry handmade jewelry, accessories for clothing, paper
Wurr will feature several local artists such as Inez Zeller-Bass and Caitlin Burch, both from Putney. Zeller-Bass makes scarves, handbags, and other accessories. Burch makes jewelry.
"These are artists I've met and things I've found," Wurr said, of the crafts she will carry.
The Retail Store will also carry a range of seasonal British grocery store items for Vermonters and Anglophiles alike. This will add a special, international touch to the store, she said.
"Some people can't live without Marmite," Wurr said. Marmite is a British foodstuff, which is made of molasses and salt.
The British items are difficult to find even in specialty grocery stores, but now they can be found in downtown Brattleboro. Along with these grocery items Wurr will have British greeting cards and paper goods.
Wurr studied at St. Martin's School of Art and received her BA in Graphic Design and Illustration from Camberwall in London, England. She won the Royal Academy Printmaking Scholarship while doing post-graduate work in printmaking at the Central School of Art.
Wurr worked as a story board artist in movies, advertising, publishing, and illustrated her own children's books before discovering a love for glasswork. She received English and American patents on her own glasswork process and design. Her designs are unique, individualized pieces that would grace any home, office, or movie set.
Wurr has participated in art shows around the country. Her glassware is found in The Museum of Art and Design in New York City, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, The Falling Water Museum in Mill Run, Pa.,, The Bellview Museum in Seattle, The Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston, and many retail stores throughout the country. Her designs are praised for their beauty and her own special talent.
The Retail Store will be open seven days a week from roughly 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
For more information, visit penelopewurr.com.
Carleen Busick will be a senior at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., this fall. She is interning with the Reformer all this summer and is a resident of Wardsboro.
