NH Made Stores Offer Shoppers Gifts Made In The Granite State

PORTSMOUTH, NH — Supply chain issues. Inflation. Slave and sweatshop labor. Product safety. Carbon emissions from global shipping.

These are just a few of the perils of shopping for global items and hindrances facing holiday shoppers trying to find the perfect gift with about two weeks until Christmas. But what if the perfect gift was right under your nose? And, that purchase assisted others around you and kept the earnings and wealth in New Hampshire?

That’s what the nonprofit NH Made stores offer in Portsmouth, Hampton, and online. The NH Made mission is to strengthen New Hampshire’s economy but increasing awareness about products and services in the state and supporting programs so local businesses can grow. Residents can also become supporting members with a donation to assist the nonprofit in sustaining its mission.

Originally, it was started as New Hampshire Stories in 1997, a vehicle to promote everything local by telling stories. From there, it spun off into NH Made. Occasionally, there was a magazine published, too.

On Deer Street in Downtown Portsmouth, NH Made has a boutique store will all kinds of items — from maple syrup, mixes, beer, and wine, to candles, lotions, jewelry, holiday items, puzzles, stickers, and knickknacks. The store has been open for about a year. There are two other smaller stores included at New Hampshire Liquor and Wine Outlets on both sides of Interstate 95 in Hampton.

Kathryn Levesque, an associate who was working on Friday, has been with the store since July, shifting away from her LNA career to try something different. Beyond serving ice cream previously, it is her first retail gig. Levesque visited the store with a family member and later, found out they were hiring and decided to apply.

Levesque said for the past few months, business for New Hampshire products has been brisk.

“It has definitely picked up,” she said. “We’ve been getting a lot more customers in the store but also, a huge increase, on online orders and online sales.”

Levesque said the website was updated all the time and orders can be filled pretty quickly. Most orders take one to three days to get out to New Hampshire customers, on average. Orders placed online between Sunday and Tuesday will take a little bit longer due to the store being closed on Monday and Tuesday.

During the past two months, Levesque has been working to improve the site and make sure as many items were online as possible.

“It’s really been paying off,” she said, “luckily.”

The store, too, does in-store pickup for artwork, furniture, and other products at the Portsmouth store, for items that cannot be shipped.

Levesque said some popular items this year include maple syrup — the store has a number of brands and grades, Polly’s Pancake Parlor mixes from Sugar Hill, and Campfire mugs by American Crystal Works in North Conway.

“They’ve been a huge hit this holiday season for gift-giving,” she said.

Hours for the NH Made Boutique Store at 28 Deer St. in Portsmouth as of Dec. 10 were closed Monday and Tuesday; 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Two smaller stores are on both sides of Interstate 95 in Hampton as part of the liquor store properties. Those stores are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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