04/12/2025
🚨 POST UPDATE: WE HAVE BEEN RIDICULOUSLY OVERWHELMED WITH THE SUPPORT OF VISITORS TODAY! 🤯
TO BE FAIR TO ALL WHO PLAN TO COME BY TODAY, WE HAVE TO MODIFY THE SPECIALS BY LIMITING THEM TO:
1 slice of pizza per person
1 cookie per person
IF WE DO NOT, WE WILL RUN OUT OF PIZZA AND COOKIES BEFORE DINNER TIME.
MUST BE PRESENT TO RECEIVE DISCOUNT 💜
THANKS FOR EVERYONE’S SUPPORT AND UNDERSTANDING. 😍
Today is a very special day in the history of The Gilford Village Store. Today marks the one-year anniversary since we acquired ownership of this iconic destination in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire!
We have answered the question of so many curious visitors over this past year – WHY did you guys decide to buy the store? As so many of you now know, we felt like we had to buy the store. We had to preserve its roots, we had to protect it from any prospective buyer who may not realize how important this destination has become for our community and visitors alike. Additionally, we felt like it was time to invest in something that has become part of our identity as a couple and as consumers ourselves, which is food and experiences.
We have learned and done so much in just this past year…
We are grateful the staff already in place chose to stay on and put their trust in us (and vice versa), which resulted in a very successful first spring and summer! As a team of very dynamic personalities and various strengths, we were able to meet our initial goal, which was to replicate what was already being done well, to demonstrate to our community that they can breathe easy.
We also knew we had a responsibility to not only expand our hours, but to establish trust that when we say we are open, we are open. We were also successful in achieving this goal, quickly, but maintaining this is not without its bumps, bruises and what feels like recurring road rash. Expanding hours has allowed us to expand our team, which has a positive economic impact locally, but it also has proven to be our greatest challenge. While turnover is unavoidable in this (and any) industry, not to mention costly, we are committed to not just bringing warm bodies into the building, but to instead cultivate and maintain a synergistic work environment where team members are committed to the work, and can learn together, push through extremely busy shifts (almost) seamlessly together, trust in and respect one another, and have fun at the same time! It’s the goal in any industry, isn’t it? While we have swung and missed multiple times, we will always dust ourselves off and get right back at it, bottling up lessons learned in our precious jar of wisdom.
Despite the obstacles and hurdles of this past year, we also celebrated so much greatness! We got to be part of Old Home Day, Halloween festivities, the Candlelight Stroll, we sponsored some really meaningful events, and made donations to many important causes. We have thoughtfully brought in so many locally made/sourced products from some really incredible farmers, artisans, and artists - so much of our retail shelves beam with “support local” pride. We launched our monthly wine tasting events, have provided catering for countless local gatherings and events for businesses both big and small, have brainstormed many other special on-site events for this second year, and have some announcements teed up for the not so distant future that will broaden the ways in which you enjoy your time at The Village Store. We also found ourselves being pursued by Google and landed a commercial spot in Super Bowl LIX, which still doesn’t seem real! Lastly, we are a few days away from appearing as the feature story for the state of New Hampshire in Google's annual economic impact report. It’s been a magical, adventure-rich, and humbling first year, to say the very least!
We thank all of our customers for your enduring patience, grace, and understanding, as we have not always gotten your orders right, we have taken too long to get your food out at times, and have occasionally neglected to immediately greet you when you approach our counter. We aren’t perfect, know we will never be, but we care, and we try, and we are all a work in progress, aren’t we? We are proud to employ team members who are experiencing having their first job and simply learning how to be an employee. We are proud to employ team members who may have not been seen or heard in other places of employment, because with the right mix of integrity and passion, the investment is worth it. Despite all of our imperfections, thank you for coming back time and again; we appreciate that you believe in us, our team, what we stand for, what and who we are, what and who we are not, and most importantly, our potential. Thank you for the lovely conversations, letting us see your children grow, inviting us to be part of your special life occasions, and for being such an integral part of this immersive experience more commonly known as The Village Store in Gilford.
To express our gratitude to you all, we would love for you to come celebrate with us! This Wednesday, April 16th, marks the day we opened the doors for the first time under our ownership last year. Let’s have a party, shall we?
Free Coffee! (1 per person)
$1 Slices of Pizza! (max 2 per person)
$1 Cookies! (max 2 per person)
We hope you’ll stop by!
Cheers to year number 2!
