Winter Garden trio relaunches A.B. Newton and Co.

A new booth debuted at the Winter Garden Farmers Market on a recent Saturday, and it proved to be a popular one, as market-goers were curious about the variety of Winter Garden products assembled on the table.

Andy Crabtree, Will Blaine and Matthew Peacock are the business partners and product designers at A.B. Newton and Co., which sells all things Winter Garden: five T-shirt designs, two handmade wood signs, mugs, stone coasters, wine bottle holders and “I heart WG” stickers with an orange slice in place of the heart.

Crabtree and Blaine, Winter Garden natives, actually started the company two years ago with a few T-shirt designs but didn’t aggressively push their merchandise. They are ready to do it now and have brought aboard Peacock, a transplant from the Philadelphia area who lives in Clermont and is the owner and creative director of the interactive agency Anonymous Creative, located in downtown Winter Garden.

“We wanted this opportunity to reintroduce the A.B. Newton name and what it means to the history of Winter Garden,” Crabtree said. “A.B. Newton is considered the ‘Grandfather of Winter Garden.’ He was the first mayor, newspaper publisher, postmaster as well as owner of a general store. Now that we have one of the most popular farmers markets in the nation, we felt it was the perfect time to have more interaction with customers and sell our products first-hand.”

There is no physical storefront; the owners like the idea of setting up on Saturday mornings and talking to customers face-to-face in the market setting. They can also gather feedback on their products. They will be at the farmers market twice a month, allowing time to make more items to sell.

The online store will be available this month, and then Winter Garden merchandise can be purchased from anywhere. The old-school designs tie the city’s origins to today.

Blaine and Crabtree both have deep roots in the city. Blaine’s great-grandfather, Thomas Mann, once owned Mann & Mills in downtown Winter Garden, and Crabtree’s grandfather, Bob Kerr, was the owner of a marine mechanic shop on Main Street.

“Our designs speak to our history of growing up here in Winter Garden and the surrounding areas,” Crabtree said. “They are purposely vintage and touchable with a modern slant. Residents and visitors love Winter Garden and the sense of community you get when walking down Plant Street. So, we wanted to create something that people would be proud to wear and display.”

All three collaborate equally on the business and creative sides. One idea is to work with other artists and create more products.

“While we have strong roots in the area, we like to hear what others are doing and how they can contribute to our vision,” Crabtree said. “We like the idea of an ‘Artisan Series’ of products from local, talented artists.”

With the three business partners working on different designs, it won’t be long before they have an abundant collection of authentic and original products to offer.

As their creativity increases, the partners will expand their Winter Garden line and even branch out.

“During our first day at the Winter Garden Farmers Market, we received great feedback from people in the surrounding neighborhoods like Oakland, Windermere, Apopka, Gotha and Clermont,” Crabtree said. “Everyone has a story to share about where they call home, so we will be including more and more Central Florida locations as we grow.”

For more, go to abnewton.com.

Contact Amy Quesinberry Rhode at [email protected].