Running a rural general store is a labor of love - and a tough business. In New England, where communities believe the value of having a general store goes beyond the bottom line, locally-supported models may offer a path forward.
Sun, 05/02/2021 - 1:38pm tim
In Shrewsbury, Pierce s Store, reopened as a cooperative in 2009, is thriving. Manager Elana Levin was too busy for an interview. Photos by C.B. Hall
by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine If you don t have a store, you can t really have a town, Ripton resident and prominent environmentalist Bill McKibben wrote in a
New York Times op-ed three years ago.
It s a thought that haunts many Vermont towns, as general stores, long a sine qua non of village economies – and the Vermont brand – contend with today s economic forces. From Albany in the state s northeast to West Rupert in the southwest, dozens of communities have confronted what it means to see their local stores endangered, or closed.