There is no simple way to describe the flavor of nectar. And the same might be said of Nectar, a business in High Falls that can decorate a hotel or provide a fair trade, handmade gift from a pair of stores its owner calls “a feast for the senses.”
But one thing about Nectar is perfectly clear, the company is donating 5 percent of proceeds received from sales in November and December to the nonprofit social services agency Family of Woodstock.
Nectar purchases crafts, antiques, furnishings and art from around the world and actively seeks out fair-trade items that pay artisans a living wage and provide humane work places. “Many of our products are supporting sustainable business abroad and I feel good about that,” said Jenny Wonderling, owner of Nectar. “But I also felt like I wanted to do something to support a local organization that is doing good things and so we are donating five percent to Family.”
The idea has proven popular, she said, with the store enjoying a successful holiday season thus far. While not discussing numbers, Wonderling said that bookkeepers at Family of Woodstock “are going to be really happy.”
They are already really happy. “Nectar”™s gift is incredible, what a generous donation,” said Michael Berg, executive director of Family of Woodstock. “The money is desperately needed these days, with every level of government being broke while there is more need than ever before. So the fact someone in the community steps up like this, says we care. And that provides us energy to keep going, because we know there is support out there.”
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Berg visited Nectar in November for the kickoff party for the donation campaign and said, “What a beautiful place. She”™s done an amazing job there.”Â
With two stores across the street from each other on State Route 213 in High Falls, full of colorful hand crafted objects d”™art, antiques, furnishings, clothing, music, and other items, including hand crafted organic teas, offered to persons who visit the store to enjoy as they wander among the displays and furnishings.
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Wonderling studied anthropology in college and said the discipline gave her an appreciation for world culture and travel that she has tried to bring to High Falls, with products from many countries that can be purchased by people looking to spend small sums or who are able to invest in furnishings for their hotel. Nectar provided many of the furnishings for The Emerson Resort and Spa in Phonecia, Wonderling notes, saying that no size is beyond the company”™s capacity because if its extensive network of contacts.
But she said what really makes Nectar unique is the experience of visiting the stores and meeting the people browsing there. “It”™s a whole experience here. It”™s not about the stuff; it”™s about the experience,” she said, noting she operates the business to provide a public space where people can come and browse and sip tea and discuss whatever is on their mind. “The stories that come through that door are amazing, all over a cup of tea, people browsing and talking. People spend hours here sometimes,” she said.
Nectar is full of nooks leading shoppers to find appealing surprises almost everywhere they look and the Nectar Annex across the street is more of the same, but on a larger scale, with two floors and more large furniture items arrayed in an historic wooden building that used to serve as a granary.
“It really is a feast for the senses,” said Wonderling.
