Grassroots Handcrafts was opened in Newark, Delaware in April of 1975 by Marilyn Dickey and Vonna Taylor.  The shop was located in a very small storefront on Horseshoe Lane, which is now the alleyway between the Rainbow Records building and the Delaware Book Exchange building.

Approximately one year later, Grassroots opened another store in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware on 1st and Baltimore Avenues.  This location thrived for over 19 years, however, was closed at the end of the summer season of 1995.

Due to the business’ growing success, Grassroots moved from its Horseshoe lane location to a storefront on Main Street next to the State Theater, which is now the Newark Galleria.  Business grew at that location until once again it expanded and moved to 46 East Main Street.  Finally in January of 1997, the business purchased the bottom floor of the historic Newark Opera House Building at 93 East Main Street where it is currently located.  Through the years, the business has expanded the type of merchandise it carries, however, always sticking to high quality contemporary handcrafted items.

In December of 1993, Vonna Taylor retired from ownership of the business making Marilyn Dickey its current sole proprietor.  Her daughter, Joanna Staib, joined the business as a Company Manager in June of 1994 and her other daughter, Kristin Short, came aboard in September of the same year.

In the mid- to late- nineties, Grassroots experienced a lot of growth.  Grassroots opened a store in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania in October of 1994, on Concord Pike in Wilmington in October of 1995, in Trolley Square in Wilmington in July of 1998, and a shoe store on Main Street in Newark in April of 2000. In October of 2000, the Concord Pike location was moved to save expenses to the Branmar Plaza in Wilmington.  The Kennett Square store was closed in early 2002.  In March of 2004, due to a troubled economy we decided to scale back by closing the shoe store and consolidate the two Newark locations back into one.  In February of 2005, we purchased our second piece of property at the corner of Foulk and Silverside Roads and moved the Branmar location to its current site.  In September of 2005, we opened a new location in Hockessin, Delaware.  There are currently four locations in New Castle County, Delaware.  Grassroots also developed a web site in 1998.

We have many other successes to be proud of, such as consistently being the top vendor at the annual Wilmington Flower Market, being voted best gift store in the “Best of Delaware” contest, being nominated for Top 100 Retailer of American Craft by NICHE magazine for three years in a row, and being nominated for the Wharton School of Business’ Family Business of the Year Award in 1999.

We have many plans for an exciting future and we hope that you will continue to be a loyal patron!