Vermont Country Store President and CEO Bill Shouldice will leave the company at the end of 2012, according to a press release. Shouldice will depart after a seven-year run at the helm of the 66-year-old company that still operates its original store in Weston, VT.
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“Bill has played an immensely important role in building The Vermont Country Store’s legacy for future generations,” Eliot Orton, owner of The Vermont Country Store, said in the release. “He has helped us improve every facet of our business, while preserving the heritage and traditions that make us who we are, and what our customers are passionate about.”
The Orton family is in the early stages of finding a successor to Shouldice, which is in its third generation of family ownership. Each of the owners — brothers Cabot, Gardner and Eliot Orton — will continue to be involved in the business, but none of them will assume the role of CEO.
“The Vermont Country Store is a jewel — it is truly one of a kind,” Shouldice said in the release. “It is time for me to step away, because I’ve done what I set out to do. I am proud to have led the transformation of this business from a vision of one to a business where there is a collective sense of ownership among its employees and management. My departure comes at a time when The Vermont Country Store is in a position of strength in terms of our sales, our product offerings, our stores, our technology, our people and our connection to the communities where we all live and work.”