Fort businesses seek to fill creative void
FORT FAIRFIELD – A new Fort Fairfield business that features craft supplies, primitive pieces and antiques is set to open Saturday.
Located under one roof at 110 Presque Isle St., patrons can find Balls of Yarn, County Primitives and Happy Pretty Shiny Glass, owned and operated by Tony Burgess and Glenn Capps. A fourth business – Hand Me Down Antiques Too – is owned by Eva Kirk and is also located on site.
“Glenn was doing stained glass and fusing at home and he really enjoyed it,” said Burgess. “However, there’s nowhere up here to buy glass supplies … we have to drive to Waterville. We were talking about it one day and I said, ‘It’s stupid … if you can’t do it no one else can do it, and I’m tired of driving to Waterville every time you need glass,’ so we decided we’d open something up here and see how it went.
“At the worst, Glenn would have a really good backup of glass, and the best we’d have a nice, little business that people would enjoy,” he said. “Happy Pretty Shiny Glass is what started the whole idea.”
Capps said Happy Pretty Shiny Glass will feature “everything you need or would want” to do stained glass including glass and fusing supplies.
“Finished pieces and fused pieces will be sold here, as well,” said Capps.
“He has quite a lot of fused bowls and dishes and plates that he’s been working on to sell,” Burgess said. “When he does classes later on, he’ll be doing stained glass classes and renting out kiln time at the studio.”
Burgess, who enjoys knitting, noticed there weren’t many places to purchase yarn in the area, so he decided to open Balls of Yarn.
“I’m going to be carrying Cascade yarns and Plymouth yarns, which are the two top yarns in America at the moment,” he said. “I’m also going to have a few other smaller brands, and I’ll be carrying a large range with lots of colors so everyone’s got something to choose from.
“Everyone was saying there was nowhere to buy yarn, nowhere to buy good yarn and there wasn’t a good choice,” said Burgess. “Hopefully this is going to correct that.”
Both Burgess and Capps – who moved to Fort Fairfield in December with their son, Dylan – enjoy the county primitive decorative style and wanted to carry similar pieces in their shop.
“Our friend – Eva Kirk who has Hand Me Down Antiques in Presque Isle and Hand Me Down Antiques Too – has her house decorated in primitive style and I’ve always liked it, but it’s never suited our house,” said Burgess. “This is my way of getting something decorated in primitives. It’s really popular in the county; everyone loves it and it’s really hard to find someplace that has a lot of interesting things that don’t cost an arm and a leg. I was hoping to open something that had a good diversification of product at a reasonable price and I think we’ve managed to do that. Everyone that’s looked through it so far seems to be happy with both the stocking and the prices, so I’m really hopeful that’s going to pick up and go really well.”
The four businesses are open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and other times by appointment.
“We get new stock all the time,” said Burgess. “There’s not always the same old stock. It’s the same with the yarn colors … new fashions, new styles come out … and I get them.
“Our hope is that we’ll provide a good service to the people of Fort Fairfield and the surrounding areas – and people coming over from Canada – and that our businesses will inject money into the economy here and encourage other people to open businesses in Fort Fairfield,” he said, noting that down the road he will be carrying fabrics, as well. “Fort’s a really pretty town and it desperately needs new businesses.”
Capps said he loves the Presque Isle Street location.
“We’re friendly with James Campbell and his family, who own Campbell’s Redemption right next door, and we were here one day looking at the building and said, ‘Hey, there’s a good spot,’” he said. “It’s on a main road, good frontage and good traffic. We’re excited about it.”
The grand opening will be held Saturday, March 27.
“We’ll have blackberry cheesecake and maybe some chili that we’re getting from Boondocks and it will be a lot of fun,” said Burgess.
For more information, call 472-6111.
A RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY was held last Thursday in Fort Fairfield for a business that features craft supplies, primitive pieces and antiques – all under one roof. Located at 110 Presque Isle St., patrons can find Balls of Yarn, County Primitives and Happy Pretty Shiny Glass, owned and operated by Tony Burgess and Glenn Capps. A fourth business – Hand Me Down Antiques Too – is owned by Eva Kirk and is also located on site. Pictured at the ribbon-cutting ceremony are, front row, from left: Carl Young, Fort Fairfield Chamber of Commerce board member; Kim Jones, chamber board member; Tony Burgess, co-owner; Glenn Capps, co-owner; Janet Kelle, executive director of the chamber; and Sue LeVasseur, town council chair. Back row: Larry Plant, chamber board member; Town Manager Dan Foster, and Charlie Cormier, chamber board member. The grand opening will be held Saturday, March 27.
