Peddler's Village: 50 Years as Bucks County's Premier Shopping Destination

Most little girls have dollhouses to play with when they’re growing up.

Donna Jamison, though, can boast that she had a full-sized village to traipse through during her early years. And it was right in her own backyard.

Jamison was the middle child of five in the family of the late Earl and Sheila Jamison. Her dad is credited as being the visionary behind Bucks County’s most notable shopping mecca – Peddler’s Village.

The tourist attraction is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, with lots of special events, fun happenings and a book to mark the occasion.

“We always knew it was fun; it was our playground,” Jamison, now mom to two teenagers, recalled. “We just walked across the field to play.”

The family settled in the stone farmhouse called Fox Briar near the center of Lahaska.

Earl and Sheila owned Bountiful Acres, a successful nursery, up the street, when local businessman Arch Thiele approached them to buy his property at the crossroads of Routes 202, 263 and Street Road in hopes of turning it into a “little antique town,” said the Jamison’s daughter. It was referred to as “Hentown” because of the chicken coops and hatchery on the farm property.

In 1962, Peddler’s Village – six acres that were home to 14 shops and the flagship Cock ’n Bull Restaurant – opened for business.

Today, it has grown to 42 acres with 70 unique specialty shops, six restaurants, a 70-room inn, and Giggleberry Fair, a family entertainment center.

Between everyday shoppers and those coming to the annual festivals held there, an estimated 2 million people visit Peddler’s Village each year.

Jamison "had a unique vision,” said Steve Yount, who along with his wife, Andrea, owns The Nut Kettle, which has been in business on the Village Green since 1969.

The quaintness factor that Peddler’s Village offers is definitely a plus in providing business for merchants, said Yount.

The collection of buildings is nestled amid winding brick pathways and award-winning gardens that reflected the architectural style of colonial America.

According to Donna Jamison, the idea of a picturesque shopping village came from visits her parents took out West – places such as Carmel, Calif., and Disneyland.

“There are very few places like this in the country,” said Robert Ehrlich, who has been a casual clothing merchant at Peddler’s for 10 years, following a lifelong career in the retail business working for major department stores. “I like the environment here. It’s just much more relaxed than at malls … It’s a pleasant place to be.”

That’s a feature that hasn’t changed in the half-century of Peddler’s Village.

On a recent sunny day, everybody from moms with strollers and toddlers in tow to groups of senior citizens walked the neatly manicured grounds.

“When you talk to people about Peddler’s Village, the first words you’ll hear are about the grounds, the flowers, the peacefulness and tranquility,” said Peddler’s Village CEO James Miles.

Earl Jamison was known for getting down and dirty right alongside the other workers who strove to provide gorgeous gardens for village visitors, but Donna Jamison said her mother was equally important in that respect.  

“My father was a farmer and my mom was the one who went to horticultural school. I think very early on my mom had a very strong influence of the village being green. That was important to her.

“Dad loved working outside. He still planted annuals all the way up to the time he passed away,” she said. Jamison died in a car crash in 2003.

His work ethic was legendary and was instilled in his children.

Donna worked at various shops as she was growing up – cleaning rooms, waiting tables, bartending. She ended up in management after college, attaining the rank of chief operating officer before she left to have children.

This year, she has spearheaded the 50th anniversary events. Upcoming highlights include a Family Reunion June 10 for current and former employees, a Customer Appreciation Celebration June 23 and a Rube Goldberg Challenge (building a contraption to blow up and pop a balloon) July 14.

Visit one of the merchants and you’re likely to see a poster on display with past and present-day photos of the shop.

Fiftieth anniversary memorabilia – including a special Byers’ Choice figure and a softcover book on Peddler’s Village history written by Carla Coutts-Miners – will be available for purchase at a special shop set up in the village.

“This year is a focus on the 50th anniversary, looking back and looking forward at the same time,” said Miles, a 40-year veteran in the hospitality business who joined the administrative ranks at Peddler’s Village last year.

A nod to the past was the recent opening of the Buttonwood Grill, a casual restaurant that was formerly Sweet Lorraine’s. Known for years before as the Buttonwood Inn, the Jamison family bought it in 1986, operating it as such for a few years before renovating and opening The Golden Plough Inn and The Spotted Hog.

Miles added future goals include continuing to develop and strengthen good retailers for the village as well as looking to grow group business.

Longer term, there’s room for still more expansion, said Miles, “but that’s a little in the future – so we’re not done growing and we expect to be around for the 75th and 100th anniversaries.”

Donna Jamison said the plans are all in line with her dad’s business philosophies.

“Dad always said you need to keep changing and evolving to give people a reason to come back. I would hope we do that but at the same time keeping what we are in principles while taking care of our employees and our customers.”