Community Store

(HOST) Commentator Deborah Luskin teaches writing and literature in libraries, hospitals and prisons throughout Vermont. A  general store near her home closed down last year, leaving her village without a place to meet, greet and buy milk. So, when she walked into a thriving general store up north, recently, she set about discovering the secret of its success.  
    
(LUSKIN) I used to walk to a local General Store when I needed milk, a newspaper, or a social interlude. But sometime last spring the store closed for renovations. The current owner, who had already transformed this backwater store into a high-end delicatessen, planned to turn it in to a bistro. A new septic system went in last summer, but work came to a halt. There’s lots of speculation about the place, but with the store closed, there’s nowhere for neighbors to meet informally, and the social fabric of my village has suffered. So, when I walked into the Craftsbury General Store on a recent ski-trip, I was instantly taken by the lively buzz around the place.
    
Notable was a display listing the ten different owners since the store’s establishment in 1860. The longest tenure was twenty-six years; the shortest, just two. But what I thought was most remarkable is that the store is now owned by the community.
    
After running the store successfully for eight years, David Stember, its last sole proprietor, faced the twin challenges that force most little stores out of business: too little income for too much work.
    
Rather than give up, David approached the community for help, formed a Chapter S Corporation, and sold the store to stockholders. Private investors have developed a long-range business plan and a Board of Directors oversees the place. David is now a stockholder and still works in the store – as an employee.
    
In addition to milk and newspapers, the store offers a select assortment of household items, from ant traps to ziti. In back is the commercial kitchen, central to the new initiative, which can be rented out to small-time producers of specialty items, such as jams, to be sold at the store. Long-range plans include opening a café on the second floor.
    
Craftsbury is a forty-minute drive from the nearest supermarket, so the store plays an important role in the local economy. It employs thirteen people, and it saves its patrons a bundle on gas. As the price of gas rises, and as we discover that the cost we’ve paid in return for driving anywhere to purchase anything has been to bypass our local communities and economies, the idea of the local, general store becomes more appealing. In Craftsbury, the business plan actively promotes buying local food and merchandise produced on nearby farms and homesteads.
    
As I enjoy my meatloaf sandwich, I witness a steady stream of patrons make small talk as well as small purchases. Afterwards, I talk with David Stember about how community ownership has rallied community spirit. Stember says, "I didn’t really envision the level of excitement and participation that shared ownership would inspire. The level of enthusiasm, commitment, and the willing hands-on participation we are experiencing through community ownership is well beyond anything I ever expected."    
    
Community Ownership of the local store may be an idea whose time is here.