About Us

The Village Emporium gift shop is located at the corner of Queen & Pleasant Streets in the seaside village of Chester, Nova Scotia. Surrounded by an eclectic variety of local businesses, breathtaking scenery and friendly residents, we are proud to be a member of this thriving community.

Our gift shop proudly houses a wide variety of locally handcrafted products and a selection of items from away. With contributions (and very reasonable prices!) from over 20 vendors, there is something for everyone whether you are looking for a gift or a treat for yourself! Click through Our Vendors menu to see the selection of offerings – everything from souvenirs and jewellery, baby goods and giftware, books and greeting cards, soaps, purses and wallets and reclaimed wood decor. We even have a section of ladies (only) clothing on consignment! Our unique model means each of our vendors is their own small business within the shop. We are all about variety and great prices…

We encourage you to follow us on Facebook where we show you new items arriving, sales, vendor changes and other information pertaining to us and our village community.

Open year round with various seasonal hours so please drop by and visit us soon!

The Village Emporium was originally founded by Pat McNamee  and Angela Kitching.  Pat is from Montreal while Angela Kitching grew up and stayed on the south shore of Nova Scotia. Before going into partnership on The Village Emporium we had both been stay-at-home moms and ended up as neighbours when Pat moved from Quebec. They worked together at the previous shop where the Emporium is now. When their previous boss decided to close her business the Village Emporium was born.  In 2023, Pat decided to retire although she will still be helping out.

The Village Emporium

We expanded on the previous business model and added our own personal touches and ideas. We particularly wanted to be an affordable old-fashion variety gift shop offering local crafts/products as well as giftware and jewellery from other places. We have a pretty unique shop and attribute our 15yrs (and counting) of success to this.