In an article in the local Hanover, PA newspaper in late December, 2010, it was announced that Boyds Bear Country would be closing their doors for good and an estimated fifty employees would be without a job early in January, 2011. The announcement came after the company was purchased by Enesco, a gift and collectibles supplier. It was news that brought sadness to many folks who travelled to the unique flagship store located in Gettysburg, PA.
The company was started by Gary Lowenthal and his wife, Tina, as The Boyds Collection Ltd in Boyds, Maryland in 1979 as an antiques shop. They later changed it to a more affordable antique reproduction company, with Mr. Lowenthal designing and hand-painting their products, including duck decoys. In 1984, he designed fully jointed wool bears dressed in outfits from old-fashioned dresses to little suits and overalls, and added them to their product line. In the same year, he started to design and produce resin sculptures of miniature houses and sold them as The Gnome Homes Collection.
With business growing, the Lowenthals moved the company to Gettysburg in 1987 where they continued to wholesale the decoys, wool teddy bears and Gnome Homes. They opened a factory warehouse in Hanover, PA where buyers from department stores and retail establishments met several times each year to view new releases.
In 1993, Boyds released the first of its series of resin figurines called The Bearstone Collection. This was followed by the Folkstone and Dollstone Collections. Eventually, they added villages, dolls with porcelain faces and limbs, pottery and home décor to their inventory.
The flagship store – Boyds Bear Country – was opened in 2002 in a specially built five story barn. Each floor had various sections of displays, with areas for safari animals, holiday-themed animals and decorations, dolls, etc. The main floor had a tourist/information desk and a huge working stone fireplace. Escalators were available to get from one floor to the next. The building held the Super Duper Bear Factory, where customers young and old were able to make their own bears from start to finish, similar to the Build-A-Bear stores around the country. They also had the Boyds Teddy Bear Nursery that offered for adoption baby bear cubs dressed in a variety of baby clothing. Holiday sections were found throughout the store with Christmas trees, Santa figurines, and decorations for all holidays available year round. A restaurant/coffee shop where home-cooked meals and desserts were served was located in a nicely decorated floor directly below the main lobby. Outside the facility, a horse-drawn open carriage was available to take customers for a carriage ride. A visit to the Boyds Bear Country store was truly a magical experience.
The closing of Boyds Bears will be a loss for those who enjoyed their treks to that wonderful store. For those who collect Boyds Bears and other items on their product list, they can still be purchased from their online site.
Source: The Evening News, Hanover, PA
