BARKHAMSTED – The sign outside the 40,000-square-foot, white brick factory building states that it is the site where Lambert Hitchcock built his famous chairs from 1826 to 1840.
The Hitchcock Chair Company moved in and out of the sprawling building at 2 School St. in Riverton several times, and in recent years it has been used for self-storage. Now, 5,000 square feet of it is being converted to Shops at Riverton, where up to 50 vendors will be selling handmade goods.
“We’re filling up really, really quick,” said Bryan Brown, a partner in the new endeavor.
While the other partner, Bill Missonellie, was on the phone with a potential vendor, Brown recently gave a brief tour of two floors, where blue tape sectioned off vendor areas on freshly sanded hardwood floors. Steel pillars were covered and painted gray to match the wainscoting under weathered-wood paneling.
New airtight windows on one side of the vendor space overlook Main Street in Riverton. Windows on the opposite wall peer into an additional 20,000 square feet of space, originally used for machinery to make Hitchcock chairs.
“At some point, we would love to have vendors occupying giant spots (in that space). It’s coming soon, but not yet,” Brown said. “We also have one more spot on the third floor that’s not ready, but it’s going to be cleaned pretty soon.”
Above the entryway is vendor space with windows on three sides and a view of the bridge over the Farmington River.
“We’re thinking of having a farmers market there, anything to attract fishermen on opening day,” Brown said, pointing to a grassy area below.
Back downstairs in the entryway, Missonellie had just finished a conversation with a potential vendor. He said the goal is to open by the end of February.
“That’s why I’m here every weekend, just to finish up the little odds and ends and get everything in place,” he said. “You know, spackle this, paint that, build this shelf, clean this up.”
He pointed to several areas in the entryway.
“We’re going to have a coffee vendor there," he said. "We’ll have another lady here for homemade dips and soups, pickles in jars. And then we have a pastry lady. We have a freeze-dried candy guy. We’ll have a seating area where you can sit and have a cappuccino, and then you can buy the chair you’re sitting in.”
Rent for each vendor space is based on location and size, he said.
"We want to make it a fair price for vendors," Brown said. "We want to support the local community.”
Brown said he hails from Woodbridge. He is a Marine Corps veteran who started a business called Artistical Creations, specializing in wooden American flags and other handcrafted items. Missonellie, a construction worker by trade, operates Mohawk Barrel Company, selling authentic whiskey, bourbon and beer barrels from Kentucky to California. He also sells rustic home décor items.
Brown and Missonellie met at a vendor event and discussed the idea of opening a new space for other vendors. Both will have space in Shops at Riverton.
In December, they sponsored a Christmas event at the Hitchcock Chair building, which they said was successful.
“We kind of fell in love with the town and the building,” Brown said. “We felt really lucky that we could get the space.”
Missonellie said he and Brown have always been vendors and will now be the ones vendors can rent space from.
As vendors, they know the demand to find a space to rent.
“And that’s why we had to go to the Catskills and Watertown, New York, and we drive two to six hours away, just to be a vendor in a market sort of like this,” Brown said.
Missonellie added they are on four waiting lists as vendors and so knew Shops at Riverton would be a viable business venture.
“We’ve been waiting six months, eight months," he said. "They say it’s a minimum of a year to get into, if a spot becomes available."
He said it's a year-long waiting list for Whiting Mills in Winsted.
"People on that list have been calling us," he said.
About 90 percent of the vendors they have lined up are local, but a few will be coming from the Hartford area, Naugatuck, even Massachusetts, Missonellie said.
“We have a great time,” he said of the vendor life. “We love being with people and just meeting new people and laughing. It’s fun.”
They hope their place gives a similar feeling.
“I think this is a great addition to the town," Missonellie said. "It’s just a cool little place to visit.”
For more information, call 203-470-4603, email ShopsAtRiverton@gmail.com or search “Shops at Riverton” on Facebook.