How old country stores are adapting their business models

A version of this story first appeared on NHPR.

Country stores are iconic places in New England. Whether you call them the general store, the village store, or the corner store, these businesses have historically been something between an old-timey convenience store and a community center.

A hundred or even 200 years ago, a town’s country store was the nearest place for miles where you could buy nails, eggs and a cup of coffee, all while catching up with your neighbors. When telephones first came out, sometimes the country store was the only place you could make a call.

“There's a lot of emotion that gets evoked with these stores, for the town, for people growing up, of what they remember,” said Beth Richards, who owns the Barrel & Baskit in Hopkinton, New Hampshire.

Though ownership and names have changed, there’s been a store of some kind at the site since 1790. The original wood beams are still in place, and Richards sells penny candy and local maple syrup. Both locals and tourists expect that cozy, nostalgic atmosphere when they come in.

“That is something that as an owner, I need to balance with what are the economic realities and how things have changed in the world,” Richards said.

Country stores have struggled to compete as grocery chains and big box stores became the norm. No one has to go to the store to make a call anymore, and it’s often just as easy to grab a snack, or whatever you need, at your local gas station.

So Richards is adapting. She’s started an online ordering option for customers, and inside the store she’s reserved a counter for making, packaging, and shipping meal kits to customers.

“This is where we are modern,” Richards said.

Richards has to make this work on a tight profit margin – sometimes as low as half a percent.

For another struggling general store in Harrisville, New Hampshire, the solution was to get out of the for-profit realm altogether.

In 2008, Historic Harrisville, a nonprofit that works to preserve the town’s historic buildings, bought the general store. It hired a manager to operate it like any other shop. But the nonprofit also runs a campaign each year, raising $40,000-$50,000 specifically for the store.

“That brings the bottom line to about zero at the end of the year,” said John Knight, executive director of Historic Harrisville. “Since we're a nonprofit, if we're breaking even and serving a community purpose then that's really considered a success for us.”

Of course, most country stores operate on a more traditional, for-profit model. Damaris Graham and her sister, Mariana Gibaldi, are planning to reopen the Gilsum Village Store in New Hampshire in a couple of months. The last owner closed it a few years ago, but it first opened in the 1800s.

“I live right down the street and I drive past the store every day,” Graham said. “It's just been sitting empty. So when I saw the ‘For Rent’ sign, I thought, ‘This is what I’m meant to do.’”

The sisters plan to stock basic grocery and convenience items like milk and toilet paper. The area is rural – some people in the region have to drive an hour, round-trip, to get to a grocery store in the nearest city. Graham said logistically, it’s easier to have a general store down the street.

“But you can also chat with neighbors and everyone knows everyone,” Graham said. “To me, it's just deeper than going in and out of a store.”

Graham is counting on what was true 200 years ago to still be true today – there’s no need to schlep to the big city when you can just stop by your local country store.