What Stores are in West Leb/Leb?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
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<p>I'll be moving into my dorm in just over a month. My parents will be driving me, and we're probably going to buy a vast majority of my dorm stuff once we get there (take advantage of the no tax!). I've heard that there are a lot of big stores in West Lebanon. </p>

<p>So far, I know:</p>

<p>JC Penney's
Walmart
Best buy?
Sears?
Payless Shoe Source (although not exactly essential for dorm shopping)</p>

<p>What other stores are nearby? We'd rather not drive to Concord, as our time is limited before my DOC trip. Any help would be appreciated! My parents are also not really into the idea of ordering online... and buying before is to be avoided, because of the high taxes here in Canada :P</p>

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<p>The only other store I could think of that might have dorm related stuff might be k-mart. The list's pretty limited. Though the lack of sales tax is nice, one trip to linens and things would be more helpful than a day in West Leb. I find that I always come back to Hanover from there lacking what I intended to get. I'm assuming that you're taking 91 down to Hanover. I'll try to think of what you might pass on your way.</p>

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<p>Also Kohl's (Penny's like), TJ Maxx (hit or miss proposition). Might find some things you are looking for at Best Buy.</p>

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<p>Keep in mind, that you may end up going to west leb and not finding anything as the local population who also may have kids going off to college in addition to Dartmouth families may be there purchasing stuff which could be sold out or picked over by the time you get there. </p>

<p>While your parents may not be into online shopping, I found it a pretty effective way of getting things done. You can shop on-line, there is no sales tax in hanover, some places offered free shipping and the post office will hold your stuff for 2 weeks. I did on line shopping and sent the majority of my D's stuff to hanover and picked it up from the post office on move in day, and everything was basically stress free.</p>

<p>Unless your parents are coming to "move you in" after your DOC trip, when you get to Hanover for your trip, all you will be allowed to do is place your stuff in your room. Any "moving' or setting up stuff will have to be done when you get back.</p>

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<p>Sybbie,</p>

<p>I have been worrying about how/when/where we are going to my S's "stuff" to Dartmouth as I am certain we will be flying. And frankly, haven't yet been able to discern what he will actually need. Does ORL send out a recommended list with the roomie and housing assignment? And when does my S get his Hinman box number? It sounds like I should ship most things after August 1, when I know what to purchase. HELP!</p>

<p>Thanks for any words of advice.</p>

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<p>runmanstl,</p>

<p>I'm sure there must be a more straightforward way of getting one's Hinman box number, but I found mine by logging into Blitzmail/WebBlitz (<a href="https://basement.dartmouth.edu/blitz/%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://basement.dartmouth.edu/blitz/&lt;/a&gt;) and doing a DND lookup of my name. Along with the information displayed about nicknames and class, the DND entry shows your HB number.</p>

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<p>xine,</p>

<p>Thanks for the info. I'll get S to look it up when he gets back into town this weekend.</p>

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<p>Orl will send your son his hinman box and the name of your roommate. If you are shipping stuff from home (ups will ship a trunk as long as it is locked) . I personally don't believe in dragging a lot of stuff (we find as parents sending them off we send way too much stuff). the more stuff you drag up there, the more stuff you will drag home (or like me you will pay to store).</p>

<p>The parents cafe has a great shopping list thread that has grown and taken on a life of it's own.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=53990%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=53990&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I had stuff shipped from home via UPS (the trunk with the linen, comforters and stuff that I could get in expensively at home) and ordered stuff on line lat august and had it shipped to hanover. D & roommate ended up purchasing a fridge once they went to west leb.</p>

<p>the shmen guide really does lay things out pretty well and we did use it as a jumping off point</p>

<p><a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Eshmen/index.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dartmouth.edu/~shmen/index.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Thanks for the link to the shmen list. I had not seen it before. One other question: How much time should we plan on spending in Hanover for the big move-in? I am thinking that we will arrive late on the 11th and fly home early on the 13th. I know our S will be ready to get rid of us ASAP, but I don't want to plan on leaving on the 12th because we would need to be on the road mid-afternoon to catch our flight.</p>

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<p>Unless he is going on one of the last DOC trips where he can move in once he gets back, move in day is on Sept 12 beginning at 9 am. </p>

<p>My D went on her DOC and came back home. We got there on move in Day, went to the big tent, picked up stuff, moved her stuff in, set up her room, went to the family lunch about 1:30, went to computer pickup, and goodbyes, give hugs while holding back the tears and was gone before 4 pm (move in is from 9 to 3). Dartmouth is big on the warm fuzzies, but parents will not be hanging out there all day on move in day :)</p>

<p>You can go to Molly's, Murphy's or a resturant near wherever you are staying but don't plan on having dinner with your son, there is a dorm meeting about 6 / 7 pm on move in day and your son will be meeting with his UGA and floor mates. On the 13th, orientation begins.</p>

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<p>Runmanstl,</p>

<p>Somewhere on the ORL website, or in materials that ORL will send you/has sent you, there will be a date (last year right around LAbor Day) after which Hinman will begin accepting packages. They pull up 2 trailer trucks behind Hinman (no kidding) that will be filled with the kids' boxes. You can take that date, go to the UPS website and calculate backwards to figure out when you need to ship the boxes (if you want to use UPS), I'm sure other shippers have a similar service.
We arrived while our daughter was on her DOC trip (we live far away) on Sat., did some sightseeing Sat afternoon and Sun, picked her up Sun afternoon. Shopped all day Mon, began moving in Mon night, finished Tues AM (official move-in day), picked up computer, etc. We were finished about 1pm on Tues, then we left. The only official event we attended was the Rare Books Library tour - very interesting.</p>

<p>It is a full solid busy day standing in all those lines, setting up the computer, setting up the bed, etc. I think you could get it done in 1 day and one late night by dividing up the tasks - the biggest hitch we would have had was that her roomie and parents arrived on the second day, and it would have been very hard in that tiny CHoates room to get both girls unpacked at once.
If you are organized, and don't have a lot of last minute shopping to do it could work.</p>

<p>I would NOT depend on West Leb for anything that is absolutely necessary for your kid, ie Twin extra long items (although you can stretch regular twin sheets to fit, if you aren't into extra mattress padding), some peculiar toiletry or school supply that you can't live without - bring those few things with you. The problem is that the Walmart is a "small old Walmart", not the big Super Walmarts we have down here, and the Kohl's and Penney's aren't that huge, either. You will be getting there after everyone and their brother has finished the back to school shopping, and then all 1000 freshman descend - there just isn't much left, and if you need some particular things, those might be gone. You will be able to get towels, and basic supplies, but if you need a set of plastic cubbies of a certain dimension to fit in the armoire, you might have to wait until they have a chance to restock. Certainly for school supplies and toiletries, those will be restocked in a week or so.</p>

<p>We made the trip back to Concord, and I thought it was worth it, but on the other hand, DD had way more stuff than she needed. We have a fetish in our family about comfy beds, and we picked out her pads and sheets, etc and shipped them up so that she had exactly what she wanted. The best thing about going to Concord was we found a frig that was the largest that would fit, and cubbies and cubes that fit exactly to maximize storage(she was able to make measurements before we drove to Concord). However, you could have gotten enough in the Hanover West Leb area to get by - how much stuff does your child need???</p>

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<p>Oh, and assemble what you think he needs, and remove every third item - you will end up about right! Maybe boys are different, they just naturally don't need much stuff. Interestingly D and I were about even - she sent home a number of items that she never used, about half of them she brought for herself and half I had insisted she bring!
Have your son lug his laundry around the house, and decide what sort of laundry hamper/basket he likes - D had one of those collapsible ones, but she said some kids found duffle bags more useful, and a few even used small round laundry baskets. Try to talk him into not buying a backpack right away - D had used hers for 4 years of HS, and it went into the dump after graduation, she bought a relatively inexpensive backpack for college, but her laptop never fit properly in it.
Beach towels are a good idea, wash them a few times so all his clothes don't turn orange ;). They are large enough for the biggest guy, and they double as a rug for the Green, even a petite girl like D can find a use for a larger towel - it is a Hitchhiler's Guide thing.</p>

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<p>We purchased most of what D needed in advance at home and shipped it UPS to our hotel. We found that the easiest way of taking care of the shipping. That way we didn't have to deal with picking up items at the post office. The hotel held everything and then helped us load the car to go to Ds dorm. I was happy we did it that way. You would have to check with your hotel to see if they will allow you to ship items there. We also ordered several items on line for pickup at West Leb stores. That way we didn't have to worry once we got there what would or would not be available. We ordered a few items on line for shipping to the Hinman box, but very few as it is cumbersome to get it out of the Hop and you have to deal with everyone else trying to get their items. </p>

<p>I will tell you that most of the items we purchased in West Leb were readily available in the town of Hanover itself, either on the upper floor of the Bookstore or in the hardware store, which has now relocated to a much larger, newer space. </p>

<p>I agree though about not waiting for linens, etc... to get to West Leb. You may not find anything you like. I would buy at home NOW and ship later. I wouldn't even wait to buy online and ship straight to school because they will start running out of stuff. </p>

<p>If you buy locally and pack it up, it is not that expensive to ship UPS. Especially if you have a UPS facility near you. It is very reasonable.</p>

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<p>UPS online and arrange to have them pick up your packages at your house. They will come with the labels already printed, you can charge the cost of the shipping.</p>

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<p>Thanks again for all the information. I like the idea of shipping the stuff to our hotel, and am wondering where DartMom stayed. Shipping via UPS is one skill I have accomplished with family members on both coasts and 2 sons who spend much of their summers out of Missouri. </p>

<p>The Hanover Inn (my first choice) and the Marriott are not available and we are currently holding reservations at the Comfort Inn at White River Junction. There are much nicer accomodations in Woodstock, VT and even a Relais & Chateaux inn in Plainfield, NH that are tempting, but I am guessing we will want to be as clost to campus as possible. Any suggestions for hotel/inns are welcome.</p>

<p>P.S. What are cubes or cubbies?</p>

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<p>runmanstl - I stayed at the Hanover Inn, so it was incredibly easy to ship there. The bell hops helped load the car and we made several trips to get everything to the room. You should put your name on a wait list and keep checking with the Hanover Inn, as they are VERY BAD about calling you to say they now have rooms. People hold reservations until the last minute and then cancel. But I am sure you can ship to other hotels as well. I would just check with wherever you are staying. I have read about the hotel in Plainfield and it looks beautiful! I am really not sure how much of a difference it makes how far away you stay once you are not at the Hanover Inn. Part of the beauty of the Hanover Inn is that once you have unloaded everything you can leave the car at the Inn and walk everywhere, or run an errand in the car without worrying about having to park it again. Parking in Hanover is miserable during the week and will be horrendous on move in day. The only bad part about staying as far as Woodstock or Plainfield is that it is difficult to go back and forth to the hotel. But if you just stay at the school all day, go for an early dinner, unpack some more and then go back to the hotel, it's not much different from staying in White River Junction. There is also the Alden Country Inn in Lyme which is a little closer, and the Quechee Inn in Quechee, which is also a little closer. There is also a new Holiday Inn Express in White River Junction. My husband liked the Alden Country Inn better than the Quechee Inn for whatever that is worth. Not quite as rustic. </p>

<p>I assume whoever mentioned cubbies was talking about plastic cubicles. We bought collapsible plastic crates online from Bed and Bath and had them shipped. They were good to put on top of the freestanding closet to hold towels, linens, and sweatpants which take up a lot of space. The drawer space is really minimal. I liked the collapsible ones because they're easier to store over the summer.</p>

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<p>As of now, we plan to bring S up before his DOC trip on Sept. 6, arriving on Sept. 5 and staying over at a hotel. It sounds like from what Sybbie and others are saying that there will be no time to help him move in at that time. For one thing, the info. says they only give you from 2-4 to move in. Is this the case? We would like to move him in on the morning of the 6th (or I suppose on the afternoon/early evening of the 5th if they would allow us). It would be a financial hardship to come again on the official move-in day. But I worry....how awful would it be to miss the official family activities on the 12th?</p>

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<p>i just got back from soph summer
stayed holiday inn express no problems clean and no smoking ..
near comfort suites i believe the suites are newer than the comfort inn which is a half mile away...
and yes for your first trip you want to be 5 miles away no further..</p>

<p>the hotels where most stay if not hanover inn are residence inn on rt 120 ,they are building a new courtyard marriott but wont be ready to end of the year</p>

<p>and on route 5 in white river are the holiday inn express, hampton inn
and comfort suites</p>

<p>chose from one of these and you cant go wrong</p>

<p>one more store for winter is Huberts in leb on route 4
go down main street and when you get to the split most stores are right
stay left on 4 for huberts</p>

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<p>If his doc trip is on the Sept 6th he will be able to just place his stuff in his room between 2-4 (if those are the hours they gave you) then your son will have to join his group. When they get back on the 10th he will be able set up their rooms. Hopefully Cangel will check in as her D did come up the night before her trip.</p>

<p>Is it a possiblity that he comes up by himself on the 6th (make sure he brings a set of sheets, pillow, etc with him) and then you can come the weekend weekend either sunday when he gets back or monday and stay until tuesday for move in day. </p>

<p>If it is a toss up of coming for the DOC trip and move in day, I would choose move in day because you will get to spend more time with him (ask him if he has a preference for when he would want you to come).</p>

<p>Move in day is nice as you will get to meet his roommate and his parents in addition to other parents. There are little things to do on move in day and it is over by 3 pm so you are on the road back home. Will your son be okay with seeing other freshmen with their parents and doing stuff with them on move in day and you are not there? </p>

<p><a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Efrstyear/parents/orientation.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dartmouth.edu/~frstyear/parents/orientation.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>TheGFG - I was going to suggest the same thing Sybbie did. They will not let you in the night before. You will have really limited time to get him in the dorm sept 6th. My Ds roommate was already in the dorm and they wouldn't give us a key to move in. I would send your son with basics of what he needs and meet him back there when he gets back from DOC trip, move him in on the 11th when there are fewer other cars to deal with and spend the 12th unpacking, meeting people etc. In terms of missing activities on the 12th, you don't have that much time anyway. We were so optimistic we were going to all of the presentations, but it took so long to unpack, etc... and do the mandatory stuff, there was little time for anything but the family lunch and President's welcome speech. Students are supposed to go to a computer lecture before they get their computers, and then they stand in line for a while picking that up in the afternoon. </p>

<p>I would say about half of Ds floor was already moved in before move in day including her roommate, and parents were there for other half. We talked to maybe one or two of them. (Really met people visiting weekend in April). We were still putting things together at 5:30. We thought we would have dinner together berfore dorm activities at night, but released her when others asked her to join them for dinner. We did a little shopping the next morning for items we still needed and after bringing them to her we left. But since you can get into the dorm on the 10th or 11th, you should have no problem going home by the end of the day on the 12th. </p>

<p>I don't think it's critical you be there on the 12th, but I think it's preferable, especially since you will have so much more time to move him in and put things together.</p>