Last year at this time, it would have been unheard of for Stowe residents Graham and Mila Lonetto to go away, but this year, the couple has been taking hiking trips throughout the summer, and heading to Florida and New York to visit family.
That’s because for the past 14 years, the couple owned and operated Edgewise Ski Service, a Mountain Road ski tuning service and retail shop. This spring, though, the Lonettos decided it was time to find something else to do and made the final decision to close the doors for good.
“We’re ready to do new things, spend some time with our daughter,” Mila said. The couple has a 7-year-old.
Edgewise may have been born 14 years ago, but it’s something Graham had considered for a long time. “It’s been my dream since I was a kid, since I was 12 to have my own ski shop,” Graham said.
He’s originally from Michigan, but while living in Utah, he worked at a race shop, and that’s where he met Mila, who hails from Massachusetts. For a while, he was working for the U.S. Ski Team, but some budget cuts freed him to explore other career possibilities, which ultimately brought him to the ski capital of the Northeast.
“I feel like over the years, we’ve created a new category for ski racing shops,” Graham said.
The company’s employees — 11 full- and part-timers — are moving on, some together, tuning skis for students at the Mount Mansfield Winter Academy. The new tuning shop at the academy will not be connected to Edgewise.
“It’s the same services we offered here,” Graham said. “I know they’ll do a great job.”
“We’re excited,” Mila said. “We had a good run and we’re leaving on our own terms, because we wanted to.”
Now that they have the chance to explore their options, they’re going to run with it. But it’s not all travelling and hiking in their future.
Graham plans to work again with the U.S. Ski Team as consultant and coach in Chile.
“I’m looking forward to going back and doing some networking and meeting new people,” he said.
The couple emphasized they are sticking around, Mila said: “We’re committed to Stowe.”
Her first order of business, now that Edgewise’s equipment has been cleaned out, is to lease the space.
The upper floor lends itself to a design studio, and Mila can see one, or even several, retail or food businesses making a home on the ground level. The basement, which had previously housed Edgewise’s tuning operation, would be great for small-scale industrial work, she said.
Looking back on the 14 years serving the local ski racing community — both in Stowe and for a national market that brought skis to their mailbox — the Lonettos are grateful.
“People sent us skis from all over the country,” Mila said. Thank you for letting us make a go of it. It was really fun.”
“We met some really great people,” Graham added. “It’s a really cool community and it was fun to be part of it.”
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