Offering a Taste of the Country Selling Gifts at Country Stores

By Hilary Larsen

Expats are always nostalgic for a taste of home. And Jenny Lester, who is originally from the U.K., is ready with a supply of British candy and Christmas puddings at Wilbur’s Country Store and Gifts in Blairstown, N.J. “We are known for our stocking stuffers, or gifts for people you work with,” said Lester, who has owned the store for decades. Best-selling gifts include British soaps and teas, calendars, artisan jams and light-up magnifiers.

Country stores are a little like magnifiers themselves: They offer a close-up view of both their owners and the communities they serve. At Wilbur’s, devotees of British cuisine will find English Cadbury and Mars bars and traditional braided rugs. Lester chats with each customer, offering samples of the gourmet treats that comprise half her sales. There’s an English country feel to the old carriage house where Wilbur’s occupies several front rooms; the hallway is lined with baking pans and cookie cutters. Tasty treats, but with a German accent, are the best-selling gifts at Dietrich’s Meats and Country Store in Lenhartsville, Pa. The 65-year-old family business specializes in old-fashioned, homemade products that reflect the area’s Pennsylvania Dutch heritage. “We’re traditional,” explained Owner Marlon Dietrich .

“Our secret is that we don’t change the recipes. We don’t use preservatives, hormones or phosphates. And we sell the kinds of things you can’t find easily nowadays.”

These include house smoked poultry like capon, pheasant and Cornish game hen, as well as chicken and turkey; a variety of homemade, German-style sausages like bratwurst; and freshly butchered

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