Old Mill Pond Village Shops: Granby's Mall

Joe Radwilowicz begs to differ when he hears that Granby and East Granby don’t have a mall.

Indeed, Radwilowicz, who has owned and operated the Old Mill Pond Village Shops on Route 10/202 in Granby with his wife Judy since 1972, says that his complex that features seven picturesque buildings, five stores and 55,000-square feet of retail space has all the trappings of, say, a Westfarms Mall, but without any of the drawbacks.

“This is the Granby mall,” Radwilowicz said. “We’ve got something here for everybody. You’ll never find as much stuff in this amount of square footage, and the right stuff, too. … This is the Nieman Marcus of Granby.”

And Radwilowicz has a point. During the holiday season, the most popular of the five shops are the gigantic Village Christmas Shop, which features all things, uh, Christmas, and the Red Barn Gift Shop and General Store, which has room after room filled with pottery, kitchen items, candies, jellies, candles, baskets, stuffed animals and jewelry.

(The other stores are the Village Warehouse, the 1760 House and the Village Homestead, which offer furniture.)

Things have been going swimmingly this year over at the Village Christmas Shop, an enormous old grist mill and saw mill that offers name-brand collectibles such as Dept. 56 Dickens Village items and snowbabies, Old World Christmas Glass Ornaments, Byers’ Choice Carolers and much more. The store also sells artificial trees, lights, tree toppers and other gifts.

Sales have been brisk, said Kim Radwilowicz, one of Joe’s and Judy’s daughters who helps run the various stores in the complex.

“For a lot of people, it’s a family tradition to come here,” Kim Radwilowicz said Saturday in the Christmas Shop. “You can come here and shop comfortably without the hustle and bustle of the big stores. We have something for your baby and we have something for your grandfather … and everyone in between.”

In the General Store, Kerri Radwilowicz, another daughter of Judy and Joe, said that Vera Bradley handbags had been moving well, as well as the Chamilla charms and beads and Kringle Candles.

“Whatever is hot, you can find it here,” Joe Radwilowicz said.

It seems that the only thing more extensive than the selection in the Christmas Shop and General Store are the number of Radwilowicz’s themselves, 10 of whom work at the complex.

“We’re born and raised in the business,” said Kim Radwilowicz. “That’s all we’ve ever done and it’s what we like to do.”

In addition to the wonderful selection of items on sale at the shops, it’s the family-run aspect of the business that keeps a lot of people coming back year after year.

“People know us,” Kim Radwilowicz said. “When people have friends or family visiting from other places, they bring them here.”

But what about the selling point that big box stores are less expensive and have greater variety than smaller retail outlets?

“That’s a myth,” said Christmas Shop employee Rick Mountain quickly responded. “There’s tremendous variety here. We match the inventory here against everybody else’s.

Not that you would know about the place unless you stumble on it yourself. Indeed, the Radwilowicz’s refuse to advertise, preferring instead to rely on the generational connection and word of mouth to get people to visit the stores.

Whatever their reason for visiting the stores, shoppers swear by the complex.

“You can’t get the selection of holiday ornaments and collectibles that they have here,” said Avon resident Bill Roell, who added that he has been shopping there for the last 15 years. “It’s easy, it’s charming. [The Radwilowicz’s] are nice and friendly. They’re family.”

Windsor resident Antonia Faria, who has been shopping at Old Mill Village Shops for the last three years, said that the variety and prices keep her coming back year after year.

“It’s so unique and the prices are pretty reasonable,” she said. “For the kids, you’ve got to get toys. But if you want to get something special, they have it here.”

Faria’s niece, Allison Reynolds, said that she likes the idea of helping the local economy.

“I love shopping local,” Reynolds said. “It helps the community. I’d rather help a local store than drive to a big box store. When you walk into someone’s house, you see the same thing when you buy from a big store. With these stores, they’re your neighbors and friends.”