Small-town general store finds recipe for success by mixing old and new

Customers who pull up in front of the Earltown General Store can charge their electric car where they would once have had their horses shod.

The old red building has been a welcome sight for those travelling to or from the North Shore since the 1890s. Its location in the village of 250 people marks the halfway point between Truro and Tatamagouche.

Kayla Conoley and Brent Halverson bought the property in 2013. They're only the fourth owners in its long history.

"Brent likes the anachronistic version of the building where we have the windmills over there, the gas signs on the roof,"  Conoley says. "We try to kind of merge the past and the present, and keeping in mind what we need to do in the future."

That means considering the needs of nearby residents and supporting the community, she says. The couple hired the store's staff of nine locally, and stock the shelves with maple syrup, beef jerky and even hand-knitted socks produced in the area.

"It's gone from wanting just a simple kind of life to something that's larger, but it's good," Conoley says. "It's a labour of love, for sure."

The nostalgia of the old fashioned candy and in-house bakery drew in a steady stream of customers on a recent mid-week visit.

"It's wonderful because there's just, you know, there's a small community feeling and people call you by name when you come in the door," says Ann MacCuspie, who often comes in for bread but stays for the conversation. "Sometimes you'll run into a friend or somebody you know. And so it's, in a way, I wouldn't say a gathering spot but certainly gatherings do happen."

'A warm place'

That's part of the appeal that Dartmouth-based author and historian Mike Parker says contributes to the longevity of businesses like this small-town shop.

"General stores are a warm place to go," says Parker. "There's something that's welcoming about that compared to when you go into a shopping mall or a store and it's very cold and sterile."

Parker wrote a book on the topic that was published earlier this year, titled A Little of Everything General Stores of Nova Scotia - Remembering the Old Days, Old Ways.

There used to be over 1,300 general stores in the province, he says, but today only a handful remain.

The oldest still in operation is Frieze and Roy in Maitland, Parker says, and one of the most remote is Carl's Store in Tusket.

"I, more than most, probably mourn the passing of general stores," Parker says, "because my family owned and operated a general store, the Bear River Trading Company in Bear River for 40 years."

Mail order catalogues and shopping malls ended the heyday of general stores in Nova Scotia, he says.

But the few that have survived are taking on an important role. 

"It's a piece of our history, our heritage, our culture, and they're maintaining that."

Conoley says that running her shop comes with its share of challenges: maintaining a building that's more than a century old, navigating the pandemic and most recently, post-tropical storm Fiona.

But the community rallied around them.

"I did post on Facebook that we are having a hard time paying the bills, and it was amazing how many people came out after that just to stop in for an extra cookie, or like do some Christmas shopping.

We've been able to bounce back, and that feeling of anxiety has definitely gone away," she says. "So that comes with the territory of rural business ownership. You have challenges. You also have great community."