Skaneateles, NY
Featuring handcrafted leather and textile goods made at the homestead of the owners along with other handcrafted and USA-made goods.
I’m on vacation in Penn Yan at Keuka Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. My friend and I took a day trip to the town of Skaneateles, NY. We walked around the cute town, had lunch, and walked into a few fun stores. At one I bought a felted Happy Birthday banner made by women in Nepal, and a baby toy for my youngest grandchild. The proprietor told me that proceeds from my purchase of the baby toy went to orphanages. Such feel-good shopping. And a reminder to do more local shopping!
And, then….we walked into a store called The Local Branch Company. Oh my. The books in there were exquisite, and the products were all about nature and explorers. I picked up a couple of books that I put back down but probably will get at some point. I did get a deck of outdoor activity cards called Forest School. I mean, the name of my property is Dandelion Forest and I have grandkids and more coming at some point, so how could I not? The picture in this post is of cards from the deck, organized into 4 categories.
As I paid for the cards and raved about the store to the woman at the desk, she handed me a card and said, “here, I’ll give you this, we have an online shop.” I told her she would probably learn my name because I would be ordering. After all, there are books I left behind….
Website: thelocalbranch.co