After two-and-a-half years of struggling in downtown Hanover, the Mangy Moose recently closed its doors. But it doesn't look like the replacement for the Wyoming-based store, where shoppers could find anything from 85-cent moose pencils to $5,000 moose antler chandeliers, will be selling pencils any time soon.
Prospect Hill, one of the largest antique stores in New England, will open for business in the same 3 Lebanon Street spot about three weeks from now, according to building owner Jim Reubens.
Mangy Moose co-owner Jim Tery attributed the store's problems to logistical difficulties at its Lebanon Street location, including parking issues and similar obstacles to attracting customers.
"We just didn't have the foot traffic," Mangy Moose co-owner Jim Tery said of the store's folding. "It wasn't up to our expectations."
Still, Tery said local support for the store was terrific and that customers stopped by to say they were sorry to see it close. Julia Saraidaridis '05 is one student who will miss the quirky Hanover institution.
"It was just sad because it was a cute store," Saraidaridis said. "It was a good place to get presents and stuff. I was bummed."
With the Mangy Moose closing its doors, there is one less place for students to shop.
Its replacement, Prospect Hill, is part of a larger shift toward higher-end and pricier goods and services in Hanover.
According to Reubens, who also heads the Downtown Hanover Marketing Alliance, the shift is a response to the taste of Hanover's clientele, which includes a lot of commercial visitors.
"I wouldn't call them tourists, but they do come to the downtown area and do business," Reubens said.
Merchants are targeting this group in different ways, "gradually focusing on the customer who appreciates finer products, service and a finer experience," Reubens said.
Despite some student skepticism over the rising prices in downtown Hanover, retailers are trying to attract them to the new stores.
"Both markets are very important to us," Reubens said, citing the Canoe Club restaurant and the updated Dartmouth Bookstore as two examples of businesses that have found a balance, catering to a broader range of consumers from students to second homeowners.
Upscale clothing boutique JuliAna opened in Hanover over the summer. JuliAna co-owner Julia Drubel said some are apprehensive about her store's prices, but she believes her shop has found a balance.
"We have stuff for middle school through older women," Drubel said. "We have lots of jeans for kids to wear to school, for Dartmouth kids."
Drubel also commented that JuliAna fills a niche for those seeking a metropolitan edge in rural Hanover, as she and her co-owner buy for the boutique in New York and Boston. She suggested that her customers are willing to pay higher prices because JuliAna's apparel is unique.
"It's not like any other clothing store here, obviously," Drubel said.
But, for students like Lindsey Larson '07, who considers "dropping $700 on a dress socially irresponsible," Hanover lacks many viable shopping options.
"[JuliAna's] stuff is overpriced and impractical for the average college student," Alix Toothman '08 said. She found similar higher-end boutiques to be equally inaccessible to students.
Until shopping in Hanover becomes more student-accessible, the Internet and West Lebanon will remain the primary options for students to purchase clothing and other goods. In the meantime, Hanover merchants hope to continue to improve their relationship with students.
Reubens said that students take shuttles to West Lebanon for shopping because they assume that Hanover has higher prices, an assumption he chalks up to poor communication.
"We have to be better tuned to the needs of students," Reubens said.
