Cooper Country Crafts Celebrating Half a Century of Success
By ELIZABETH COOPER
COOPERSTOWN
It’s a rare thing for any store to survive for 50 years.
Especially a homey craft store in a town focused on baseball tourism.
But Cooper Country Crafts can now claim that distinction.
This little jewel of a store in Doubleday Court has been around since 1974 and has occupied the same spot since about 1977. There is a special quality to the place. The sun streams through the windows, filters through brightly colored glassware and dances across ceramics, scarves, wooden toys, and trinkets of all kinds.
And without fail, there is a cheery salesperson there to greet you.
What’s the secret? It’s a co-op, managed and staffed by the crafters themselves.
“Everything is handmade and the people that do it love it,” said founding member Judy Curry. “And the love shows up in what they do and in the quality of the work.”
On a recent Friday, Curry was outside giving the door a fresh coat of paint. She said the idea for the store came out of a conversation she had one day with fellow crafter Marion Bronner. The two had been selling items at a consignment shop and were frustrated by the 30 percent fee levied on sales.
“We thought we could do our own store and could do it more economically,” she said.
Their first location was where the Pioneer Patio restaurant is today. Soon they attracted other crafters with the same feelings about consignment—over the years there have been more than 300—and they drew up some rules.
“Everybody pitches in,” Curry said. “No matter what we do—paint the shop or build shelves—somebody in the group does the work. We take turns working there and we keep expenses very low.”
They also became a non-profit.
“Everybody gets the sales from their items and we take a small percentage to pay our bills,” Curry said.
Today there are about 20 active members.
“We have a great group of members,” she added. “It is just a really good, fairly tight-knit group and we have become good friends.”
One such member is Sharon Gibbons of Deansboro, a seamstress who makes everything from pocketbooks to little girls’ sundresses and sculptures of Santa and snowmen.
“I used to do craft shows,” the 25-year member said. “A friend of mine said, ‘Why don’t you try Cooper Country Crafts?’ I sell just as much there as I did at all my craft shows. The people are wonderful. All the crafters are like family.”
Barb Grant of Oneonta has been a member for seven years.
“I like that it is so unique,” she said.
Grant makes crocheted market bags and knit blankets, hats, scarves, and other items.
Alessandra Paul, marketing and operations coordinator for the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, called Cooper Country Crafts “a hidden gem.”
Paul said it is rare in Cooperstown for a business to be open for so many years.
“It is a very unique store, very picturesque, very warming and open to the community,” she said. “The people are always looking out for you and for one another. It is such a special place and such an accomplishment to reach those 50 years open.”
Paul also noted that Cooper Country Crafts wasn’t a baseball store.
“Everybody loves baseball here,” she said. “But it offers a safe haven for people who don’t do baseball. It’s a break from sports.”
There will be a celebration in honor of Cooper Country Crafts’ 50th anniversary on Friday, May 31 from 5-7 p.m. in Doubleday Court. Everyone is invited to enjoy light food and beverages, shop or just mingle.
