Looking into The Paper Peddler in the Champlain Mill, fall 1981. Photo by Sandy Milens, courtesy City of Winooski.
Mill to Mall: People, Places, and Stories
During its years as a shopping center, the Champlain Mill was an integral part of the local community and its economy. Featured here are some of the many individuals and businesses that contributed to the mall’s success.
Carroll Reed, Caribbean Corner, Norway Design
Paper Peddler, Betsys, The Coat Gallery
Interior Innovations, Holiday Celebrations, Ray Pecor
Yankee Pride, Chessy’s Frozen Custard, Waterworks
Interior Innovations
The Burlington Free Press, December 16, 1994.
The home accessories store Interior Innovations was located in the Mill from 1991 to 1996. Owned by Richard and Heidi (Hamilton) Slade, the store featured lamps, clocks, candlesticks, table decorations, linens, garden accessories, holiday décor, and more—as Rick described, “all the things that make a house a home.” The Slades also carried jewelry, gifts, and crafts.
An interior designer, Rick met clients in an office inside the store, and he offered his interior design services to other business owners in the Mill. For several years, he designed the Christmas decorations used throughout the Mill. Heidi and Rick made the difficult decision to close their shop in 1996, after several years of juggling the store, Rick’s interior design business, and the needs of their young family.
“I LOVED Interior Innovations! Made many purchases there. I never left without making a purchase. It had the best merchandise for a home.” - Suzanne C.
Holiday Celebrations
The Champlain Mill offered memorable shopping and dining experiences for major and minor holidays. Everyone entering the building on Saint Patrick’s Day received green carnation boutonnieres. Families enjoyed special Easter and Mother’s Day brunches at Waterworks with live jazz. The Easter Bunny and Santa Claus held court on the River Level. At Halloween, business owners and shoppers alike loved watching the children from the Champlain Mill Child Care Center parade down the halls in their costumes.
The Christmas shopping season was the highlight of the year. Shoppers were met at the main entrance by a doorman in a tuxedo and serenaded by a roving violinist. Local choirs and handbell ensembles held performances on the weekends. All three levels of the mall were draped in greenery and lights. Mill business owner and interior designer Rick Slade designed the holiday decorations, including “giant Christmas trees made the hallways look like a forest.”
Karen Shastenay, owner of the Green Mountain Clock Shop, recalls that the holiday season brought out the best in people: “One time a security guard came in and bought a music box for his wife but said that he could not pick it up until after Christmas. As he left, the lady next in line paid for the music box so he could have it under the tree for his wife. She said that she did this kind of thing each Christmas … I have never forgotten her or her kindness.”
The Burlington Free Press, October 22, 1981
“I loved to shop there at Christmastime, as it was decorated with trees, music, lights and vendors. It was charming and cozy with all the brick and wood. You could get a warm beverage and walk around.” - Susan M.
“When I was in college at UVM in the early 90s, each year before we all left campus for winter break, a group of friends and I would go to The Champlain Mill to Christmas shop and end our evening at Water Works for dinner. It was a beautiful, fun and extremely enjoyable experience that rounded up our semester and allowed us to bridge saying goodbye to friends for a month and going home for the holidays.” - Laurel C.
Raymond C. Pecor, Jr. 1987. Courtesy of Champlain College Special Collections.
Ray Pecor
Now retired, Raymond C. Pecor Jr. had an extremely successful career as an entrepreneur and real estate developer. A native of Burlington, Pecor attended the Nichols College of Business Administration in Massachusetts and the University of Vermont. He owned and managed the Lake Champlain Transportation Company, which provides ferry service on Lake Champlain, from 1976 to 2004. After revitalizing the Champlain Mill in 1980-1981, Pecor would go on to develop the Courthouse Square office building in downtown Burlington and own Vermont’s minor league baseball team, the Expos. Among other awards, Pecor was named the most influential businessperson in Chittenden County in 1987. Former Champlain Mill tenants characterize him as a wonderful landlord with a genuine interest in launching small businesses and helping local entrepreneurs succeed. On multiple occasions, he forgave or reduced their rent when they were facing financial difficulties. On the second anniversary of the Mill’s reopening in 1982, the tenants publicly acknowledged Pecor in a statement of gratitude they published in The Burlington Free Press. As Madonna Wright, the owner of several businesses in the Mill, once stated, “Working with Ray Pecor is a thrill and a privilege.”