Everything Newtown Opens

A shopping adventure awaits anyone who enters Everything Newtown, a gift shop located in the space once occupied by Newtown Drug Center.

The store on Church Hill Road offers a wide variety of choices for shoppers, including clothing, jewelry, kitchen tools, candy, maple syrup, honey, house plants and party supplies.

When first entering the store, patrons might think everything in the store pertains to Newtown, as its name implies. But customers soon discover the name also refers to the Newtown store with “everything” in it.

Some items are produced by Newtown craftsmen and artists. There are photos, postcards and notepaper with scenes of Newtown, hats for babies knit by a Newtown woman, and soap made from goat milk at Rowanwood Farm in Newtown. Clothing marked “Newtown” is displayed along one side of the store.

One section displays books by Newtown authors, including historian Daniel Cruson. His latest book, Putnam’s Revolutionary War Winter Encampment, is on display, along with his previous title, A Mosaic of Newtown History. Other books by local authors include Gardening for a Lifetime by Sydney Eddison, and Eleanor Mayer’s History of Cherry Grover Farm by Andrea Zimmerman.

Store owner Diane Bates said the shop opened Aug. 5, one day after her husband, Donald Bates, closed the Newtown Drug Center, which he had operated in the same space for many years. The pharmacy ceased operation after its customer list was transferred to Walgreens Pharmacy, which opened a new outlet on South Main Street at Mile Hill South Road.

Bates said she inherited the soft goods portion of the pharmacy business, which provided her a basis for creating the gift shop. Those items include greeting cards, gift wrap, stationery supplies, children’s toys, jigsaw puzzles, model airplanes, clothing, patent medicines, DVDs, paperback books, decorative magnets, vitamins and personal care products.

“I am working at improving the stock, such as adding a candy line,” she said. “My husband is helping me with the store.”

The store is helping to sell a board game, Newtownopoly, based on Monopoly, to raise funds for the Newtown High School orchestra. One thousand copies of the game, which sells for $30 each, were created by a special firm for the fundraiser.

The store also sells party favors for birthday and holiday events. Balloon bouquets, fortified with helium, are available for parties and gifts.

Everything Newtown continues to offer fax and photo copy services as it did during its days as a pharmacy.

After surveying the merchandise, Gloria Aubin of Newtown selected knit hats and mittens as holiday gifts for her great-grandchildren. Meanwhile, a grade school boy picked out a few presents for his teachers along with a book light for himself.

“This store has many unique items, a little bit of everything for any occasion,” said Debbie Eventoff, of Newtown, as she selected two Beanie babies and some notepaper for gifts. “I enjoy shopping here.”

Everything Newtown is open Mon - Fri, 9am - 7pm; Sat, 9am - 4pm; Sun, 10am - 1pm.