Sage Jewelry takes root in new Chester location

By Cynthia Prairie
©2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Michele Colby has finally found the storefront she has longed for. During the 16 intervening years, her children have grown and so has her business, Sage Jewelry and Gifts, now one of the two oldest retail businesses on the Chester Green.

Just this past April, Colby finally moved from “the back.” Her first two years in business were spent “in back:” in back of the former Moon Dog restaurant; the next 14 years were “in back” and down the alley of 78 The Common, where she was able to create a thriving business, despite always wondering what was happening on The Green.

Now, Colby no longer has to wonder. She has a perfect view right out her door between those two large display windows flanking it at her new shop at the corner of School Street at 102 The Common.

The journey began last year when her then-landlord, Sharon Baker, who owns Sharon’s on The Common, the other oldest retail business on the Green, was in talks to sell 78 The Common to Collected Ltd., an antiques and home decor shop that would be moving from Sugar Bob’s on Route 11 West and taking over the entire building.

For all of its quaintness, the Chester Green offers very limited storefront space.

Says Colby, “I contacted the train station, I contacted maybe a dozen other places and I had everyone looking for me. I even thought about leaving town and looked at Ludlow and Bellows Falls. I wasn’t willing to compromise. So if nothing was going to work out, I decided I would close the shop and reopen when I found a new space.”

That was the plan. Until Iris Fischer called. The owner of Fischer Arts, which specializes in antique and modern nature prints and engravings and related works, had decided to close her five-year-old gallery while keeping her online shop open. Colby recalls Fischer telling her that she could not be open all the time and knew Colby would be needing a new space. “How community minded is that!” says Colby. “We worked everything out with the landlord … and it was really seamless.”

As anyone who has ever moved knows, the longer you live in a space, the more stuff you have to move. The same for a shop. “I could not have done it without friends and family,” says Colby.

Sage advice from a seasoned businesswoman

Colby graduated from the Gemological Institute of America in California in 1994, focused on gemology and the jewelry manufacturing arts. Before that, while still in high school, however, Colby began working at the Rock & Hammer doing silver work. She then spent 14 years as an appraiser in New Hampshire, before deciding to open her own business.

The name Sage, she says, comes from “the wisdom to do my own thing, the thing that was right for my family. My children were small, and I was commuting a distance. I wanted something that worked well for them, where they could walk after school to my shop.” Those children are now young adults.

In all those years since, she’s indeed gained more sage wisdom.

“I put in the time building a local following. A lot of small businesses start off too strong.” she says. “I started off slowly, with a small investment of my own money and built my local clientele. I have a loyal following of repeat customers who are local. You cannot just cater to the tourism industry.”

Colby believes that one reason she attracts both locals and tourists is that she stocks the works of a variety of Vermont artists. Her offerings, she says, “are not cookie cutter.” And those artists include herself. “I’m also offering something that I make here, so customers meet the artist, they buy from the artist,” she says.

Working in precious metals these days, however, can be pricey. “The price of silver has skyrocketed,” she says, as has gold. Colby works in sterling, gold-filled, copper and brass using a variety of gemstones and pearls. Her rings, earrings, pendants and bracelets always bear a nature-bending quality about them, distinctive and delicate without being twee.

One segment of her local customer base are those needing jewelry repair. During our 90 minutes together, a man came in seeking a fix for a silver and turquoise ring that was missing a few gemstones, while a woman came in needing a pearl bracelet repaired.

Other pearls of Colby’s business wisdom:

• Start small. Colby knows what small is like. Her shop at the Moon Dog was a sliver of a space that maybe four customers could squeeze into.
• “Treat every sale like it’s a $100 sale. I wrap every item, treat every purchase likes it’s a special purchase.”
• “Go above and beyond with customer service.”
• And keep your pricing local-friendly.

What does she love about the new space?

• The visibility. “I’ve put my time in in the back — twice.”
• “Those windows! I love to do displays. I have ideas for each season. I’ve always wanted a real storefront.”
• Natural lighting.
• “I can now see what is going on on the Green! I can enjoy watching whatever events are taking place there during business hours.”

Sage Jewelry and Gifts is located at 102 The Common. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily except Wednesdays May and June; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week July through December, with extended holiday hours.