Our logo has been transformed into a work of art by shop co-founder Kris McDermet! Check it out the next time you’re at the store, it’s hanging by the register.
Donations accepted
welcome
Experienced Goods is a store that brings people from anyplace and everyplace to find what they need, want, or fancy. That could be warm clothes for New England’s harsh winters, housewares for your new place, books and toys for a child, a quirky piece that speaks clearly to only you, or the chance to spend time in the safe, warm, compassionate company of others.
BENEFICIAL
From funding Brattleboro Area Hospice to providing necessities to keeping material out of our landfills to being a groovy and cool shop full of treasures ready to be found, Experienced Goods is just like its products—a guiltless pleasure where everyone wins and no one loses.
CURATED
Your shopping pleasure is only the final part of a process that starts in the garages and closets of our community. It only works because we have done the herculean feat of processing mountains of potential into a collection of objects that hold only promise and take only time to discover.
ADVENTUROUS
Our wonder is in the adventure of it. Our goal is not simply to sell stuff, it is to provide what is desired and/or needed in a place that is wonderful in and of itself. To “get it” is to experience it so get yourself in here and find more than the thing you didn’t know that you wanted.
History
Experienced Goods was started in 1988 by Alison Macrae and Kris McDermet as a shop that could sell goods to the people of our community while also benefiting Brattleboro Area Hospice. Hospice was a tiny organization back then, and fundraisers took the form of tag sales Alison and Kris organized a few times a year. Donations of clothing and household goods for the tag sales came mostly from Hospice volunteers and involved a lot of schlepping. The tag sales were a grand success, and donations were increasing, necessitating the need to rent first a storage space and eventually a storefront off of Harmony Lot. Several expansions ensued over the years. When we outgrew that space, we moved to 77 Flat Street in the Transportation Center. In 2022, now with seven paid staff and an army of volunteers, we made our final (we hope) move to the C. F. Church Building, at 80 Flat Street. We are the story of donated goods finding new life and renewed benefit, but we are also the story of bold and visionary people who made a place where we start with compassion and we lead by example.
To get more details about our illustrious history, here is an article that gives a bigger view.
Current
Here’s a cool video from our local community television station that gives a little deeper and broader perspective on The Goods. You can also enjoy some of our monthly newsletters that we put together from time to time.
