Simon Pearce

Folks will balk at how expensive Simon Pearce glassware is, but the company is in that enviable luxury goods market where the higher the price, the more desirable the item, even in a recession. Why this glass factory and retail store are located where they are in Oakland is a bit of a mystery. Located at a small rather unattractive industrial park, the setting is completely different from the flagship Simon Pearce glassblowing store and restaurant on a river in beautiful Quechee, VT. That establishment is designed to bring in the tourists and boost sales.
The Oakland establishment (Simon Pearce’s website and the Garrett County map say it’s actually in Mountain Lake Park, MD) have none of that classic New England vibe, but once inside, you’ll find a beautiful retail store with sparkling glassware, stellar customer service, and a factory where you can watch workers producing their wares. I’d certainly gone with the intent to buy of course, but when the glassblower came over to us and asked if we had any questions, he had me at hello! I’m just a sucker for attentive service.
On this trip (our second), after much debate over which pieces to invest in (these are not mere purchases after all), it would be the same glass bowls they’d been making earlier that day and would be used in our home for serving my homemade ice cream or perhaps a simple fruit salad come summer. Apparently the Simon Pearce retail stores no longer sell any of the factory seconds, but at the factory you can get seconds for 20% off. They had no seconds of the bowls we wanted so we had to pay full price, which was still less expensive per piece than the champagne glasses we’d bought last year. All the pieces are hand inspected and even to be considered a «second» the piece has to meet certain quality standards. In the factory there are plenty of bins containing broken pieces that just didn’t make the cut but that’s what happens at a factory producing such exquisite and delicate handmade items that will make any table sparkle.