Central Vermont will soon have a new purveyor of used books, antiques, vintage clothing and vinyl when Speaking Volumes opens its third store, in downtown Randolph.
Proprietor Norbert Ender said he’s excited to continue the tradition of promoting “slow shopping and slow fashion” with the upcoming launch of the new location. The Austria native and former restaurateur opened his first used-book store in 2006 on Burlington’s Pine Street behind Barge Canal Market, the latter of which he also founded but has since sold. He followed that with a record store and audio repair shop across the street on Marble Avenue.
“Over the years I’ve been accumulating so much inventory, and I’ve been looking for additional outlets,” said Ender, who for a time considered a move to North Carolina before the Randolph building came on the market. He currently has 50,000 to 60,000 used books in stock but doesn’t have space in his Burlington store to display them all. “If I want to retire in the next 20 years,” the 61-year-old said, “I need to sell some of it.”
Located at 10 South Main Street, the new Speaking Volumes, which will have its soft opening on Saturday, March 1, is located in an old grain mill and farm store along the railroad tracks. Built in 1904, the 14,000-square-foot building, of which 5,000 square feet are developed, still has some of the original grinding wheels and milling equipment on the fourth and fifth floors. The first floor will be devoted primarily to records and used books, with about 1,700 square feet of vintage clothing for sale on the second floor.
Why set up shop in Randolph?
“There’s just a real nice, positive vibe in that town,” said Ender, who has friends in the area and often attends events at Chandler Center for the Arts. He’s hoping that the store’s central location will attract customers from Montpelier, Barre, Woodstock and New Hampshire. Eventually, he hopes to open a second audio repair shop to complement the service he currently offers in Burlington, perhaps even tapping into the pool of electrical engineering students who train at Vermont State University’s Randolph campus.
The new Speaking Volumes store will also feature a curated selection of local items, including baked goods from Miss Weinerz and stoneware from Peter Evans Pottery. Over time, Ender plans to further develop the building to include art studios and other creative spaces.
Ender was forced to evict one of the tenants, Central Vermont Adult Education. According to executive director Catherine Kalkstein, it had long operated a “one-room schoolhouse” out of the building, where students could go to learn English, get their high school diploma or GED, or develop other employment skills.
Ender had hoped to let the adult learning center stay on. But the fire marshal who inspected the building informed him that the new, mixed-used development would require him to install a new sprinkler system, which Norbert cannot afford.
Business at Speaking Volumes in Burlington has been “rough” the past few years, he said, in part due to the departures of neighboring Myer’s Bagels (now Myer’s Wood Fired on Shelburne Road) and then Queen City Café, the loss of which reduced his foot traffic. The lengthy construction work on Pine Street further eroded business — and claimed two mufflers off Ender’s car. While he has no plans to shutter either store, he does intend to divide his time between the Queen City and Randolph.
Over the years, Speaking Volumes has hosted more than 100 live music shows. Ender expects to do the same in Randolph, with a bash tentatively scheduled for the spring featuring Burlington punk-rock group Rough Francis.
Speaking Volumes, 10 S. Main St., Randolph, and 377 Pine St. and 7 Marble Ave., Burlington, speakingvolumesvt.com
The original print version of this article was headlined “Speaking Volumes to Open in Downtown Randolph”
This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 4, 2025.
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