About Fort Orange General Store

At Fort Orange General Store, you'll find beautiful, hand-picked home goods and gifts, with an emphasis on handmade quality and great design. We're proud to feature the work of up-and-coming designers, artists, and small companies from all over, and share them with our corner of the city.

If you're wondering about our name, "Fort Orange" was the original first permanent Dutch settlement in New Netherland, the present-day home of Albany, New York. We're fascinated by the history of Albany and the Hudson Valley, and our store is just two blocks from the site of the original fort!

Say ‘Hi’ to Betty!

A small, framed photo of this woman has sat in the corner seating area of our store since we opened our doors in 2017. The woman in the photograph is Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Van Buren, grandmother of the store owner, Schuyler Bull.

Betty grew up on Central Avenue in Albany and attended Vincentian Institute on Madison Avenue where she was named the 1941 State Champion in Shorthand. She was married to Harold Boomhower in the rectory of Our Lady of Mercy Church on Central Avenue (grandpa wasn’t Catholic, so the rectory had to do!) This photo was taken across the street from our current store, at the foot of State Street, back in the 1940s, most likely during a wartime parade.

Memories of shopping in a bustling downtown, or attending shows at the Palace Theatre where the “handsome young men in white gloves would escort ladies to their seats”, were often shared with her grandson, who moved to Albany in 2006 to attend college.

Now a permanent resident of Albany, Schuyler wanted to do his part to restore the vibrancy and beauty of downtown to what his grandmother had so fondly remembered by opening the Fort Orange General Store.

Though Betty isn’t with us in person anymore, her spirit watches over us each day in the store. So the next time you visit us, be sure to say ‘hi’ to Betty, and know you’re doing your part to revitalize our beautiful downtown.