Part 2
by Gail Falk, Staff Writer
Editor's introduction: This is the second and final chapter of our Plainfield Co-op and Hardware Store histories — where they came from and how they got to this present moment of togetherness. Many thanks to Gail Falk for her research, interviews and writing. Many thanks for the photos and information to Susan Grimaldi, of the Plainfield Historical Society, who took time out of her own flood recovery to share these with us.
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This piece is divided into two sections:
I Origins in the Village
The roots of the Plainfield Hardware Store go back more than 150 years, to 1858, when O. Knapp built a shoe and clothing store on a thin strip of land along the Winooski facing School Street. On the same strip of land, closer to Route 2, was a harness shop owned by C. St. Johns. The Knapp store burned in the Cass Mill Fire of 1877. Here is how the vacant property looked after the fire.
Right: Where the Martin building would be built
In 1919 Walter Martin erected the building that now fills the corner of the River Bridge with School Street. Walter Martin had several business ventures, including a slaughterhouse and cash market.
The new two-story building was first used as a clothing and shoe shop, and later as a barber shop and pool room. Martin Building eventually joined the harness shop and the clothing shop into one building by a small flat-roofed section erected in the space between the two buildings.
The Martin family converted the entire set of buildings to an appliance business about 1935. Three licensed electricians operated out of the store to do industrial and residential wiring. Starting in 1960 Carl Martin, Walter’s son, distributed Delta power tools to schools and industries throughout the state.
In 1919, Walter Martin built this building filling the corner of School and Main Streets. The building was first used as a clothing and shoe shop and later as a barber shop and pool room. From 1935 until 2006 the building served as a general hardware store. Recently the building housed Local Potion and Peak Hydroponic shops.
Grain supplies were stored and sold out of the old harness shop. The store sold propane tanks and plumbing supplies. Over the years, the “Plainfield Appliance Store” became “The Plainfield Hardware Store.” Gerald Healey bought the store from Carl Martin, and then turned the operations over to his son Gerald and Gerald’s wife Kathy.
Photographs courtesy of Susan Grimaldi, Plainfield Historical Society
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II Christiansens 1999-2024
Twenty-five years ago Rich and Gaye Christiansen were looking for a change. Their children were growing up. Gaye was running a day care from their home on Maple Hill. Rich was working for Pepsi. Born and raised in Plainfield, he wanted to run his own business and he wanted it to be in his own hometown.
Through the years, the Christiansens had been used to shopping at Plainfield Hardware, but by the ‘90’s, the store had become tired, and its inventory was depleted, causing longtime customers to shop elsewhere. The Christiansens realized that, for the business to survive, it needed new energy and leadership. In 1999, they took the plunge and purchased Plainfield Hardware and its real estate, and, as a family, they set to work reviving the store. The store was redesigned with a fresh, new look, and new inventory filled the shelves.
The business grew quickly. The flow of customers and new inventory were soon outgrowing the space. The limited parking on School Street was a real problem. “We had to grow or go,” recalls Rich. He says he looked everywhere for alternate retail space in Plainfield Village but found nothing, eventually, settling on the Legare Farm Market, a mile and a half away. “We didn’t leave Plainfield,” says Gaye. “We expanded it.”
The Legare property offered many advantages: easy access to the thousands of daily drivers on Route 2 as well as the numerous winter travelers on the VAST trail; a functioning greenhouse with a lawn and garden business that tied in well with Christiansen’s hardware business; ample parking; a 2700 foot building, with room beside it to build the hardware wing of the store, which Rich envisioned from the beginning.
The Christiansens bought the Legare farmstand on May 1, 2006. Through the summer, while still operating Plainfield Hardware in the village, they ran the farmstand and greenhouse that Legare had built. In the fall, they moved into the 3000 sq. ft. log cabin addition, designed to Rich’s specifications to house both old and new hardware inventory.
Since 2006, the business has evolved. The grocery section expanded with a strong beer and wine inventory. The greenhouse was rebuilt. Growth and success were due, the Christiansens say, to following the rule: “Listen to your customers.” For instance, they added pies and steamed hotdogs and soup, but “people wanted more,” says Gaye. “People were hungry.” And so they hired a full time deli manager. The store now offers baked goods, take-out foods, and a full breakfast and lunch menu.
Rich and Gaye have lots of ideas about the potential for the business to grow, such as expanding the deli to more sit-down, adding a butcher, growing the greenhouse section to include a nursery and landscaping business, growing vegetables in a garden on the property. But, after 25 years, they are tired and ready to rest and renew themselves. Rich says he is “ready to retire to a 40-hour week.”
They look forward to new leadership for the business that can expand upon the strong foundation and the strong staff they have built and lead the store forward into the next 25 years.
Part 1 of this series appeared in the Plainfield Co-op Newsletter, Summer 2024