The Grand Opening of Dick and Jane's General Store, Walpole, Mass., Feb. 2, 6-9 p.m.

Here is a follow-up on recent posts about Dick and Jane's General Store in Walpole, Mass. -- tonight is the official Grand Opening, hosted by the Walpole Chamber of Commerce:

If you are a fan of old-fashioned, locally-owned stores, we encourage you to attend the official grand opening of Dick and Jane's General Store, tonight, Feb. 2, 2010, at 944 Main St. in Walpole, Mass. The event is hosted by the Walpole Chamber of Commerce and runs from 6-9 p.m.

Dick and Jane's General Store is a truly wonderful shop with a variety of delicious homemade fudge, retro candies, coffee and tea, bagels, muffins, gelato, and educational toys and games. They have a gigantic M&M machine where customers can dispense common and specialty M&Ms, right next to the barrels of penny candy. Dick and Jane's also offers limited seating to enjoy the yummy candy, food and drinks!

Three wide-screen televisions reside in separate sections of the store and feature shows from the Food Network, episodes from Seinfeld and classic old-time television shows. Wifi is available, also, thus adding a touch of 21st century pizzazz within the nostalgic atmosphere. The owners are very pleasant, display clear pride of ownership, and have already become very active with the community. To us, Dick and Jane's is a fantastic addition to downtown Walpole!

Editor's Note: For the official announcement and to let the Chamber know if you will be attending, please visit the Walpole Chamber of Commerce Facebook Fan Page. You can click here for a general article on Dick and Jane's.

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The Latest New England Updates at VisitingNewEngland.com

Article and photo (Dick and Jane's General Store, Walpole, Mass.) by Eric H.

We have some exciting new articles -- and a special new feature -- that we'd like to alert you to at VisitingNewEngland.com.

The latest feature story centers on ALLCANEAT, a 100 percent gluten-free food facility that will open soon in Randolph, Mass. Located at the former Zeppy's Bagel site, ALLCANEAT will feature breads, pizza shells, cakes, cookies and other foods that people with Celiac's Disease typically cannot eat. ALLCANEAT will also feature a cafe/store. There's quite a story behind the business as executive vice president of sales and marketing David Ford saw, first-hand, a family member diagnosed with autism make a remarkable turnaround after starting a gluten-free diet.

We were also the first to break a story on Dick and Jane's General Store, a fantastic "retro" store located in Walpole, Mass. With bins of penny and old-time candies, homemade fudge, coffee, bagels, muffins rolls, gelato, educational toys and games, Dick and Jane's is not only a wonderful addition to the "Main Street USA" look of old-fashioned downtown Walpole, but perhaps a positive sign that more downtowns can find themselves thriving in a big box store world by simply returning full circle to what made them so special in the first place -- that is, offering a great mix of locally-owned shops and restaurants for the whole family. Dick and Jane's helps the "thriving downtown" cause greatly with a mission to help bring more people to Walpole center through an appealing, back-to-another-time presence.

Speaking of locally-owned stores, we recently launched the "Shop Local, Buy Local New England!" blog at VisitingNewEngland.com. This blog informs readers of -- and celebrates -- the many high quality, locally owned businesses in the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. ALLCANEAT and Dick and Jane's General Store are part of this special blog, with several other New England stores written about, also. If you have a favorite locally-owned New England store, please let us know and we'll consider it for publication.

Enjoy our new features, and happy travels (and shopping) in New England!

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