J. Gregory Gerdel
Celebrating 75 years of retail business in downtown Montpelier, Capitol Stationers has weathered the dramatic changes in both technology and what and where consumers purchase the tools for communication with one another.
Don Bigglestone, whose father Bill founded the store in 1950, grew up helping in the store and joined the business full-time as soon as he graduated from college. He has seen retail business — and downtown Montpelier itself — transformed by the arrival of big box stores in the 1970s and the ongoing digital revolution that began in the 1980s. Don and his sons Kent and Eric who now manage the store, attribute the store’s durability to flexibility in the products they offer, but overall to customer loyalty.
Bill Bigglestone had begun his career in office supplies as a traveling salesman before seizing on the opportunity and stability of operating his own retail business. He, and then Don, grew that business into multiple locations, including Burlington, Barre, and Berlin, but also Florida. In 1967, the Bigglestones purchased the building most recently occupied by Walgreens and added a second story and expanded both products and services.
Don, who considers himself a “people person,” said the customer engagement of the retail environment was always a pleasure for him. “I never had any interest in an office job,” he reflected. That affinity for people had benefits on a national scale. He served on the board of the National Office Products Association, rising to the office of vice-president. The relationships with both manufacturers and distributors proved helpful when Capitol Stationers expanded to Burlington and Barre locations, he said.
During the 1960s and early 1970s, downtown Montpelier retailers “included three of almost everything,” Don recalled. “We had three hardware stores, three drug stores, three lady’s clothing shops, three jewelers, and three grocers.” At Capitol Stationers, typewriter repair and servicing, in the person of Bob Irons, was an important part of the business.
Mr. B’s Hallmark, a branch of Capitol Stationers, opened at the Berlin Mall in 1987 and operated there until 2015. The downtown store was located on the west side of Main Street for 15 years before returning to its original location next to the firehouse where the original mural was restored by Steve Miller in 2011. At the same time the inventory of the store itself was undergoing a continuing evolution.
Both Kent and Eric began working at the store when they graduated from college in the early 1990s. As Kent explained, many of the traditional office supplies had been rendered obsolete as communications, record keeping, and even design made the transition to digital. It wasn’t just the Rolodex that was no longer a staple item.
“Do you remember the little books everyone used to keep for tracking the mileage and service records for their cars?” Kent asked. Such items were once reliable sellers, he noted.
While Hallmark cards, stationary, mailing envelopes, pens, pencils, and journals continue to be central to the product line, Eric said that Vermont-branded clothing, keepsakes, and chocolates have become substantial contributors to sales. As of June 1, the store will return to opening on Sundays as the tourism season begins to pick up.
