If you’re under 30, you may not remember Natty Norms and The Penny Saver. But for those of us who were around during it’s existence, they were a long-time fixture in Charlotte County.
Located on the #1 highway just outside of St. Stephen, Natty Norms provided two very important products – especially for a community like ours, and especially for the 1980s and 1990s: clothes and VHS rentals. For younger readers, VHS tapes were the things we used to watch movies on….
This is a mostly blue-collar community, and if you needed a pair of boots or a work shirt – Natty Norms had you covered. But there was also a pretty wide selection of other clothes and footwear, as well. Lots of us who grew up during its existence remember our parents taking us there to pick out many of our school clothes, shoes and jackets.
But most importantly (to me, anyway), they had a huge collection of VHS tapes available to rent. And in the 90s; especially if you were a family – weekends often involved renting a couple of movies and everyone settling in around the family TV. They had new movies, old movies, obscure movies, horror, comedy, action: it was as well stocked as any big city rental store….but we were all told by our parents to NEVER look behind that curtain in the corner. And if you felt lucky, maybe you’d take your chances on the gumball machine that might gift you a free rental!
You may have gotten a chance to pet one of the cats that frequently roamed the store, or talk to Sandy; the famous talking bird who loved to repeat, lets just say “colorful” language. So popular was Sandy in fact, that she was even usually mentioned in ads for the store.
And of course conveniently located right next door was The Penny Saver, a popular grocery store for many in the community for decades.
Warm memories are in no short supply for these two spots from the residents of Charlotte County. Many shopped there. Some even worked there for years. And many fondly remember the generosity of Norm, himself.
