When the Remarkable Book Shop closed, Westporters mourned the loss of a quirky, comfy store that for decades epitomized Main Street.
When former owners Sidney and Esther Kramer gifted the Westport Historical Society the right to use the name — and their Edward Gorey-inspired logo — for its gift shop, Westporters rejoiced.
The Remarkable name lived again — and on Avery Place, just a few yards from the original store. Not everyone who shopped for books, maps and posters about Westport knew the significance of the Remarkable Gift Shop name, or the delightful logo, but that didn’t matter.
Those who did, smiled.
Remarkable guy at Westport Historical Society (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
But they — and the Kramer family — are not smiling now.
Besides renaming both the Historical Society itself (it’s become the Westport Museum for History & Culture), and the main exhibition room (the Sheffer Gallery now honors Daniel E. Offutt, III Charitable Trust), there’s a new name for the gift shop.
Gone is the Remarkable name. Gone is the Remarkable guy.
“It’s a makeover!” the website trumpets. “New space. new stock, new name!”
Are you ready for the great new name? Nothing says Westport like …
“The Shop at Wheeler House.”
PS: Neither Wendy Posner nor Mark Kramer received any notification from the Westport History Museum that their parents’ naming gift had been expunged.
