Friends open old time 'browsery' in historic New Brunswick building

At the new Peep & Keep Ecotique in New Brunswick, nature and nostalgia are proudly on display.

Located in Dorchester’s historic Bell Inn building, owners Kara Becker and Debbie Wiggins-Colwell call their shop an old time ‘browsery’ where locals and tourists can pop in and take a look around.

Becker said the hope is to bring back the sense of community with people stopping in and talking and connecting.

“And we thought what better way to revitalize our village square and to bring back the old sense of community than to have a little shop,” said Becker.

Bird sculptures pictured at the new Peep & Keep Ecotique in Dorchester, N.B. The newly opened business features local art and vintage treasures, bird carvings and natural art that celebrate the area's unique coastal ecology.

The Johnson’s Mills shorebird reserve and interpretive centre, which is run by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, is located just 16 kilometres away.

“A lot of people don't know that we have an important stop over for shorebirds at the Johnson's Mills Nature Conservancy and we wanted to celebrate that and talk about you know that we're more than a prison and we are in a very unique place in the world, an amazing place in fact,” said Becker.

Wiggins-Colwell is an entrepreneur who retired six years ago.

Now in her 70s, the former mayor of Dorchester wanted to open a dream business to put all of her passion and talents behind.

“I still have lots of energy, so I wanted to put it into something that would help our village and something I loved doing and I just love doing this. It's not like work to me at all,” said Wiggins-Colwell.

There's only a handful of businesses in Dorchester, so the partners are hoping the Peep & Keep Ecotique will attract more visitors.

“And what better place than here in the square? This building is one of the oldest stone buildings in New Brunswick. It was built in the early 1800s. What better place? location, location, location,” said Wiggins-Colwell.

Posters pictured at the new Peep & Keep Ecotique in Dorchester, N.B. Becker said they’ve seen quite a few filmmakers and artists come in to purchase something they wouldn’t necessarily find in other shops.

Both women said business has been good and they’re thrilled they took the chance on opening the store.

“It's just a matter of people taking the initiative to make a difference and go out on a limb and maybe do what's a little crazy,” said Becker. “It doesn't make sense to start a brick and mortar store right now with everything online, but we said you know what, we're going to do it.”

The shop will be open year-round.

“We want sustainability for our little village,” said Wiggins-Colwell. “We just want it to be like a browsery so people can come in and look around.”

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Kara Becker (left) and Debbie Wiggins-Colwell call their shop an old time ‘browsery’ where locals and tourists can pop in and take a look around.