BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont Teddy Bear is opening a joint store with Vermont Flannel on Burlington’s Church Street.
Vermont Flannel has been a staple of Church Street for around a decade. The company this spring acquired the Vermont Teddy Bear brand and now the two stores will join together near the corner of Church and Bank Streets.
Vermont Teddy Bear’s Cassandra Clayton says they are excited to capture all the foot traffic of downtown and get back to their roots after the business started on Church Street 40 years ago. “We really believe in the long-term vitality of Church Street, not only the meaningful impact it’s had to our brand at its origin, but we believe that it’s really going to broaden and strengthen our brand long term,” she said.
The Echo Leahy Center for Lake Champlain opened the Tinkering Turtle toy store last year on College Street, which included Vermont Teddy Bear products That store will now close at the end of the year and a curated collection of those toys will be at the new dual store which is slated to open in early 2025.
“Being directly on Church Street is always a boon. You know, there’s some really great off Church Street shopping, but the traffic isn’t quite the same, but still very, still very robust. This is just such a great opportunity to be right on Church Street and partnered with those iconic Vermont brands,” said Echo’s Joey Bowling.