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Bringing local art and community together
Vermont Artisan Designs has been a hub for all things art in Brattleboro for over 50 years. They are a fine art and contemporary American craft gallery celebrating over 300 Vermont and New England artists.
Greg and Suzy Worden took over more than three decades ago and have continued highlighting local Vermont and New England artisans while expanding their offerings to include a tuxedo rental business and a sister store called Kitchen Sync.
“We are serial entrepreneurs,” Greg said, explaining how he and his wife have always looked for ways to add value to the local community by offering various products and services.
The Wordens pride themselves on presenting not only what some call traditional art like paintings and sculpture, but a wide array of fine hand-made crafts, including glass, jewelry, pottery, wrought iron, fiber art, lamps, Judaica, kaleidoscopes, turned wooden salad bowls, and high-quality furniture, including the fabled Vermont folk rocker. Today, Vermont Artisan Designs has eleven small art galleries and features new work monthly.
If you are in need of a tuxedo rental, the downstairs level is dedicated to the Tuxedo Gallery where they offer suit and tuxedo rentals for proms and weddings. Next door is their Kitchen Sync store, where you can find tableware, cookware, bakeware, linens, glasses, gadgets, and more.
Community is at the heart of Vermont Artisan Designs as a business and the Wordens as a family. Both Greg and Suzy ‘grew up’ professionally in the newspaper business, and understood the importance of knowing the people and happenings of the town they lived in. This carried over to their business.
“Community involvement is so important to anyone's business,” Greg said. “If you care for your community, there are many ways to help keep it strong. By helping others, you learn how your business can serve their needs.”
Throughout the years, Greg and Suzy have been involved with Brattleboro in many ways, including serving on the select board, the Brattleboro, and the Vermont Arts Council. Their service continues today as Greg sits on the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance board.
The biggest challenge Vermont Artisan Designs faces today is hiring. Worden explained how there are so many learning channels at his business, but finding those who want to work has been difficult.
“Being active in the community means that the business has to have good employees,” Worden said. “We've been fortunate in that, as well, but are having trouble finding a few more to add to the team.”
Vermont Artisan Designs worked with other local businesses to start a gallery walk through town to unite locals and visitors. Over the years, the walk has taken on different forms, seen varying degrees of success, and stopped altogether due to Covid. The downtown association, which Greg is a member of, has taken on the coordination and revitalized the walk, and starting in May on the first Friday of each month, the Gallery Walk will be back in full swing.
“Brattleboro is an interesting town,” Greg explained. “We have the first three exits on the interstate and often get people traveling through on their way to or from their ultimate destination and say ‘hey, this is a great little town!’. So the more things we can offer, the more people will come and support our local businesses.”
Vermont Artisan Designs has been a BBB Member Accredited Business since 2017. Worden explained that being an Accredited Member helps to reinforce the respect and credibility of his business and truly appreciates the support they give to local businesses.
For more information about Vermont Artisan Designs, check out their BBB Business Profile. To learn more about BBB and read more stories like this, visit Behind the Business Stories with BBB in Eastern MA, ME, RI & VT.
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