Berkshire Mantiques: Coffee, Music And Community Among The Antiques
It’s a funny experience when you go to report on a story and end up never addressing what you went to report on. When that happens, though, it usually means what you encounter is more compelling than the story you expected to find. Take, for example, Berkshire Mantiques.
If antiques and collectibles are what you’re looking for, you’ll find them there. A lot of them. The 7,000-square-foot space on Route 7 in Lanesborough, Mass. is cavernous, with high ceilings, wide aisles and all manner of old stuff as well as new products from local artisans. Prince has been in the antiques business for about 20 years, but recently moved to this new location at the foot of Mount Greylock when he outgrew his space in Cheshire.
When I finished admiring a lamp with the base of an old meat grinder, I caught up with the booming voice that belongs to co-owner Joe Prince, and after that, not a word was said about the antiques. Because Prince (and his business partner/cousin, Jim Prince) moved into this gigantic space six months ago with more in mind than offering an antiques emporium. What he wanted to talk about with me was family, community, coffee, music, the environment, and giving back.
Let’s start with the coffee, because how many antiques stores do you know that have a handsome coffee bar at the back? But the key is: it’s not just any coffee. The Prince team created a wholesale business, Greylock Grounds Coffee, LLC, (headquarters in the same former Vacation Village compound) and came up with biodegradable coffee pods. They convinced renowned local roaster Six Depot to partner with them, meaning there’s roundly loved 6 Depot coffee in those environmentally friendly pods, sold in packs at Mantiques. Prince says they’re the only k-cups on the market featuring coffee roasted in the Berkshires. If you choose to order at the bar, you’ll get a formally brewed cup of 6 Depot coffee or one of their fine teas.
And there’s this: Buy a 12-pack of the k-cups and plant seeds in the used ones. Take a photo of the seedlings, post it on the Mantiques Facebook page, and you’ll get a 12-pack, free. “If you’re drinking our k-cups, you’re changing the future,” Prince says.
Then there’s the music — “live among the antiques at Mantiques.” Prince wanted to give musicians a place to perform, and there certainly was the space for it in the building. During the pandemic winter, Prince opened it up to musicians so they could perform their live Facebook concerts.
“Misty Blues was like our house band,” Prince says. Now, there’s a lineup of acts scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights throughout the summer. You can bring your own beverages and snacks, and take a seat at any of the antique chairs and tables set up throughout the floor. Plenty of room for distancing, and great acoustics to boot.
A local business works only when it’s supported by its community, and giving and getting are something in which the town of Lanesborough excels, according to Prince. “We have a beautiful, strong community around us — Lanesborough makes you stronger,” he says, just as the town’s chief of police walks in to say hello. A cancer survivor, Prince is an active fundraiser; last Satuday, he hosted Cars & Coffee for Cancer Awareness, which raised over $3,500 in donations. That money will be turned over the cancer-fighting/awareness organization chosen by Prince’s doctor at Berkshire Medical Center, Joseph Yared, MD.
But Berkshire Mantiques is also in business to help other businesses. The space is enhanced with floral bouquets form Township Four Floristry in Pittsfield; the pastries at the bar are from Bob's Country Kitchen just down the road; woodworkers and The Berkshire Dog have their products on the shelves; a 97-year-old woman who got by during the pandemic making masks has her wares for sale on the counter. Individual booths are rented out to vendors, but they’ve been with Prince so long they’re more like family.
The giving doesn’t stop there. There are plans to further populate the 2.5 acre property, a joyous thing to see after it has sat dormant for a decade. Later in the summer you can expect a Greylock Grounds coffee drive through and a café serving paninis and pizza.
“It’s like the circle of life,” Prince says. “We have a family-run business. Jim’s son is the vice-president of Greylock Grounds. Our kids are best friends. We support local people, as well as the environment through our coffee pods. We’ve found our niche.”
And though we didn’t talk about it, they sell a lot of antiques and collectibles, too.
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