Where to shop in New England>>>> Mendon Country Gift Barn

New England Shopping Charm at the Mendon Country Gift Barn, Mendon, Mass. (CLOSED)

Mendon Country Gift Barn (photo by Eric)

Article by Eric H.

The owners at the Mendon Country Gift Barn in the Blackstone Valley town of Mendon, Mass., are very gifted when it comes to choosing appealing country store gifts, home accessories and Christmas items. 

Part country store, part gift shop, the Mendon Country Gift Barn, at first, seems like just another stop along the retail road with its unassuming roadside sign. Once entering the parking lot, however, that impression starts to change with the sight of two large barns connected by what almost looks like a breezeway on steroids.

Inside,  visitors trade their fast-paced lives for a slower version as employees greet, chat and... get this... actually help the customers! I know, I know, that was a thing of the past, but not so at the Mendon Gift Barn.

Excellent customer service and relations do not tell the whole story of the Mendon Country Gift Barn, however. The huge barn atmosphere brings one into an old-fashioned rural New England setting, and the aromas of scented candles create another vital layer of nostalgic atmosphere to a more welcoming time and place. New England favorites like Boston baked beans candy,  Vermont maple sugar candy, Stonewall Kitchen blueberry jam and homemade fudge lend a regional feeling, while a charming Victorian Christmas shop barn, curtains and table linens, patio and garden merchandise, wall and table decor, and "his" and "her" gift departments joyously force one to take notice and stay for a while. 

It's hard to believe the Mendon Country Gift Barn was once a barn where cows resided -- so glad the transformation took place way back in 1973, including eventually doubling the size of the store!

The accent is definitely on home decor, but those with a severe aversion to this category will certainly not be disappointed -- the Mendon Country Gift Barn seems to have something for everyone. I even noticed someone with the hard-nosed personality of, say, a Gen. Patton eventually softening his position against everything wimpy and ultimately enjoying this store!

I think shopping here changes people for the better, too. In one of the most bizarre twists in our modern history, not one person in the store was on a cell phone or texting during my last visit here -- and there were quite a few people shopping!  Let's put that one into the Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley's Believe It or Not! I assume people were totally involved with the old-timey New England shopping experience here and felt no need for external distractions.

I'm personally not much of a shopper, but places like the Mendon Country Gift Barn change my way of thinking to the point where it's on my New England travel "A" list with the Red Sox, beaches, the mountains, and lobster rolls. I never thought I'd say that about a store, but, hey, that's the "gift" of a place that takes the time to create something special and memorable -- such is the case with the Mendon Country Gift Barn.

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