By Danielle M. Crosier, Vermont Country Magazine.
When Vance Chatel first stepped into the old brick building on the corner of Benmont Avenue and River Street, he had never been to Bennington before. However, by the following Monday, Chatel found himself completely compelled – and under contract to purchase the place.
“I have at least one more adventure in me,” Chatel laughed. At 62, and standing beneath newly installed spotlights and fresh white walls where a jumble of bookshop shelving used to be, “I needed a new story, a new scene – and this was it.”
That new story is Mill Store 1865, a mixed-use gallery and retail space opened in mid June, with an opening reception for the first group of artists.
Housed in a former historic mill store that once served workers from the Bennington Mill’s complex down the street, the building now anchors what Chatel hopes will become a small creative district on Benmont Avenue.
From Bird Hill Farm to Bennington
Before Bennington, Chatel spent 12 years at Bird Hill Farm in Ware Massachusetts, running a working farm, bed and breakfast, and vintage-resale operation near the famed Brimfield Antique Flea Market. Making a name for himself emerged organically, and soon, he found himself curating, “Guests would start asking me if things were for sale. I was selling my artwork – I’m a painter – to guests, and people who weren’t even staying at the inn would come and purchase things. The inn and the shop really fed each other.”
“People loved what I was doing with the inn, and that’s really where I started to be interested in creating spaces,” Chatel said.
Then came the pandemic, and the business that Chatel had created collapsed. What followed were a few challenging years, as Chatel cared for his elderly mother, “When my mom died, my business was completely dead. I was ravaged financially, physically, and I was in the position to start over and repivot,” Chatel said. “And I knew – I needed to act.”
Chatel sold the farm and began to search “all over New England” for a building – a building that would speak to him.
When a real estate listing on Zillow led Chatel to the old brick mill store in Bennington, “I came here on a Friday, and it was my first time in Bennington. I fell in love with the building, and by Monday we were in agreement.”
Reimagining a mill store
The building, originally constructed in 1865, once served as a company store for mill workers who lived and labored nearby. Housing upstairs, commerce downstairs, and a classic New England mill configuration. Choosing the name “Mill Store 1865” came organically out of a desire to both honor that history and to signal a new chapter.
Originally, the first floor had been used as a bookstore. Built-in shelving lined the walls and a large counter dominating the center. In the first major overhaul of the space, Chatel tore them out, “I painted everything, I put in all new lighting, major electrical upgrades, major plumbing upgrades. Every window in the building is new.”
“This entire wall is what I’m calling the gallery wall,” Chatel said, waving at the long expanse of white space once lined with old shelving. “On this side of the space will be a gift shop and vintage home goods. Over there is more like a vintage home boutique, and here is mostly gifts. I’d call it ‘gifts for the creative home.’”
Gifts for the creative home
Mill Store 1865 blends an art gallery, a vintage home boutique, and a creative gift shop in a historic former mill store, with a mission to inspire community and connection. The Mill Store’s retail side is deliberately playful and hands-on. Shelves and tables are packed with art books, paint-by-number kits inspired by master painters, children’s craft sets, origami kits, paper airplane books, Pantone-color journals, tarot decks, and crochet and knitting kits.
“The gifts I’m choosing are about inspiration,” Chatel said, grinning and pulling down a granny-square crochet card deck that is expected to be a bestseller. “When I was a kid, my mom always bought us arts and crafts. I want people to come in and be inspired to make things.”
Vintage glassware, clothing, and home goods round out the mix, with plans to expand into consignment and local heritage items.
Cultivating creative growth – and community – in a departure from downtown
If the building is the body of Mill Store 1865, its mission is the heart. After caring for his mother through the end of her life, Chatel found himself repeating a personal mantra, “Cultivating creative growth for myself and others.”
“That’s what this space is really about,” Chatel said. “I want people to come in here and be inspired. The gifts, the workshops, the art – it’s all to inspire creativity.”
For Chatel, organizing and hosting workshops and small group gatherings will be central to that vision. Chatel envisions writing groups, art-making sessions, sewing classes, journaling circles, and spoken-word or “Moth”-style storytelling nights, many of them informal, low-cost, or free.
“I want to do writing groups – maybe one night every two weeks – a free drop-in writing thing,” Chatel said. “People working with prompts, maybe sharing, maybe not. It’s just a way for people to get together.”
“I get why people say it, but I find it really exciting. I find really interesting people here,” Chatel laughed, adding that his intention is to truly embrace the essence of the area and create collaborations.
Chatel sees Mill Store 1865 as a bridge between Benmont’s working-class corridor, the nearby community markets, businesses like Magnifico Home, and the historic district of Old Bennington up the hill. “Magnifico Home is right down the street, and I feel like she and I are going to set up a little district of creativity and artistic excitement,” Chatel added. “I’m all in.”
Four painters to launch the gallery
The gallery, opening with the work of four regional painters – Kate McPhee of North Adams, Massachusetts; Bruce Chateau of Otis, Massachusetts; Danny Rodriguez of Arlington, Vermont; and Michael Purcell of Providence, Rhode Island – will be showcasing about 100 paintings through the end of the summer.
“I’m going to change the show every two months,” added Chatel, and it is easy to see the enthusiasm that he has for the arts. In October, The Mill Store will host something a little different – an exhibition of vintage Halloween costumes from a private collection of roughly 200 fragile pieces, some nearly 80 years old.
Chatel has already begun conversations about collaborations with Southern Vermont businesses and he hopes to coordinate with a number of small galleries and workshops in the area to avoid duplication and strengthen the region’s arts ecosystem. Additionally, he feels ready, “Tourists are going to come here and love it, and locals will have a place that’s really theirs.”
“This is my retirement,” Chatel added. “I don’t have a traditional retirement, so this is it. I’ve invested every penny I have into this place, and I want to spend the rest of my life doing this – cultivating creative growth for myself and others – right here in Mill Store 1865.”
Danielle Crosier is a landlocked mermaid who found her way to Vermont by accident. She is a wife and mother, a former technical writer (10 years), former educator (19 years), and glass artisan with a background in marketing and strategic management. Her interests, though, lie mainly in studying and understanding systems and improving the lives of those around her. She also loves spending time with her precious children and their significant others, organizing, learning about social geography, creative endeavors, experimenting with various cuisines, and exploring the world around her.
