Stafford may not have a sordid history of witch trials, but we do have plenty of historic charm and the legacy of the slightly spooky spiritualist society known as the Harmonious Progressive Union (which threw many seances in Memorial Hall). Today, Stafford also has plenty of funky small businesses, ready to cater to people who may want to miss the crowds associated with a spooky season visit to Salem but still want to experience some authentic New England vibes.
One of modern-day downtown Stafford’s pioneering businesses, OrchardWorks Magic Wands, is trying to make Stafford a year-round destination for visitors, but Halloween is a special time of year for any business with “magic” in its name. Fresh off a stint at the Big E, OrchardWorks co-owner Ed Bareiss told me he spends nearly as much time pitching Stafford as a destination as he does selling wands at local conventions. “We have the best cidery in the state of Connecticut,” he tells people who pop into the booth and ask about Stafford, encouraging them to come to town for more than just the wand shop.
He estimates roughly 8,000 to 10,000 people a year come to Stafford to visit OrchardWorks – a lot for a town with a population of less than 12,000. They come from Maine, Philadelphia, New York, and beyond to see the charming OrchardWorks building and buy their handcrafted wands. The closest competition is, as luck would have it, in Salem. However, travelers looking for a genuinely small-town experience (and who would rather not get caught in Boston traffic) choose to visit OrchardWorks and, hopefully, the rest of what Stafford has to offer.
Soon, Bareiss and wife Janet hope to open their next destination shop at 7 Main Street. The Escape, Bareiss says, will be an immersive retail experience. Many small shops struggle as buying moves online, but destination retail experiences are designed to give people a reason to come out. Someday, people will come to The Escape to play games like Dungeons & Dragons or experience themed events.
The new project is still in the planning stages as the OrchardWorks crew tries to find the time to turn what was once an accountant’s office into an inclusive space for pop culture nerdoms of all kinds. For now, the space is used for storage, promoting the wand shop just around the corner, and the 3D printers cranking out the dinosaurs and dragons OrchardWorks has been selling in-store and at the events and conventions they attend nationwide. (It's also worth pointing out that some of the shop's security cameras and motion detector lights have a history of seeing things that aren't there, which could make the building a candidate for a future ghost tour!)
Someday, the hope is that the new shop will even include an escape room, though building one out is a significant endeavor and may be further down the line. Bareiss notes that OrchardWorks and The Escape are self-funded, which is part of what makes these small businesses viable at a time when so many others are struggling. (We heard a similar sentiment when we talked to the Cidery crew this summer.) The wand business started in 2011 after Bareiss made a few wands for his daughter’s birthday party. Feedback led the couple to start selling on eBay and then Etsy, and Janet was quickly able to quit her full-time job. In October 2020, OrchardWorks opened the physical location at 13 Furnace Avenue.
With no loans to pay back or investors to please, the Bareisses can move slowly. “You have to be content not to make huge profits,” he says. He prefers to think of the businesses as part of an effort to be “good community stewards.” Buying and maintaining old buildings in what could soon be Stafford’s second district on the National Register of Historic Places is as much a personal mission as a business decision.
Bareiss says that once it’s time to open The Escape, social media influencers from all over the country are ready to come to Stafford and help boost the town's profile and the businesses. He’s in no rush to have a splashy grand opening, though, as long as caution tape and traffic cones are still up and down Main Street, remnants of the ongoing road construction. He thinks that, over the winter, he and his staff will have time to devote to getting the new shop in tip-top shape.
Though, if you’re reading this, there’s no need to wait to visit OrchardWorks or Stafford. Come on down for Arts on Main and the Witches trail on October 11, 2024 or to Trick-or-Treat on Main on October 26, 2024. And if Halloween isn’t your thing, put WinterFest on your calendar.
