Made In Virginia Store

I believe that one good turn deserves another. Now, you’re wondering what that has to do with the Made in Virginia Store. I will explain… I belong to a chat group where all totaled we hail from 4 countries. We met when we regularly posted in another forum, then one of the members created a private chat group for us. The first year, we decided to do a «secret santa» gift exchange where each one of us would randomly get assigned another member. One year, my «secret santa» was from a state at the other end of the country. Every gift she sent to me was made in her home state. This was so thoughtful and I decided that if I drew her name, I would return the favor. And this was the year I drew her name!
With that in mind, I checked out a store in Old Town Alexandria which proved to be a disappointment. So… what to do? Some googling lead me to the Made in Virginia Store. You can order things online from them but I wanted to go in person to choose the gifts.
This store didn’t disappoint! There was a large selection of items that were made in-​state. However, not everything is from VA. There were items that were made in the USA. So, if you want in-​state items, be sure to read the labels.
It is a popular place in Downtown Fredericksburg and parking can be problematic. Mostly, it is free two hour street parking — and the streets do get congested, plus they are all one-​way. So if you go, be sure to pay attention to the detailed driving directions on their website.
One drawback — the store is small and can get cramped. I took my time and found several items that were made in-​state. One was a Christmas tree ornament made in Fredericksburg, another I bought was some apple pie jam, Also, I got some fudge and some chocolate that was made to look like a Dogwood flower (the Dogwood is the Virginia state tree). My husband bought some Virginia peanuts for himself plus I liked the looks of that apple pie jam so I got some for us — it proved to be quite tasty and mimicked quite well the flavor of apple pie.
So…if you want to gift someone with made in Virginia items, do visit this shop. Take your time to browse. That said, I did notice that there were some items that you could order online that I didn’t see in the store. For example, «wissie cakes» that are made in a town on the Chesapeake Bay — I would have loved to have tried one!

This store has a real old-​fashioned lunch counter, and they advertise fresh-​made fudge… that’s a pretty hard-​to-​beat combo.
However, the rest of the store is filled with Virginia-​based tchochkies and slightly-​overpriced items like jams and hams.
Worth checking out if you are looking for something in particular like those buttery peppermints everyone loves, or Peach Bourbon Jam.

Good selection of items, but the staff seemed a bit stuck up. They were not very friendly. The store is located on Caroline Street in beautiful downtown Fredericksburg, so great location. Depending on how busy downtown is though you may have trouble finding parking. They carry several Virginia is for lovers items, magnets, tshirts, pottery etc. they also have a little café inside and sell homemade fudge.