Shopping in Stoughton

Furniture from more than 15 national and international sources fills Northeast Furniture Direct, a store that sells home furnishings at factory-direct prices. Shoppers can peruse memory-foam mattresses, leather sofas, formal dining sets, and more, all still wrapped in their factory packaging and bearing their manufacturers' full warranties. Each week, the store announces its public business hours; patrons can also visit during scheduled one-on-one appointments.

A woman strolls into the framing shop clasping the hood ornament of a car. She doesn't know much about it, except that it was attached to the car her grandfather drove around town during his youth. Not wanting the trinket to sit in a dusty drawer any longer, she hands it over to a staff member and asks him to turn it into piece of art equipped to hang on a wall. Since The Preservation Framer's doors flung open in November 2008, its team has restored and preserved memory-laden keepsakes ranging from photographs to wedding gowns to violins. During each framing project, specialists use museum-quality materials to securely encase items within custom-cut frames, available in more than 700 colors and three fruit flavors. Exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, and a tin ceiling enclose the storefront, which doubles as an art gallery that showcases local, regional, and intergalactic artists' work at least four times a year. The Preservation Framer's downtown-area surroundings also keep clients entertained with an assortment of restaurants and boutiques.