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Tuftonboro New Hampshire General Store
Where New England's Traditional Sense
of Community Thrives
By Dan Derby
It's six a.m. and barely light outside. Inside the early crowd, a mixture of
drop-ins and stay-awhiles, have filled the table in the Tuftonboro General
Store. There will be another crowd at 7:00 a.m. but these early stalwarts come
from as far away as Moultonboro to claim seats at the day's chat.
At State Highway 109A and Federal Corner Road there always just enough
room. There's a sense of conversations that started some time ago and
continued today.
How much a cord for firewood this year?
How were Steve's daughter's first days at UNH?
Where's Tony's well project?
The crowd splits it's opinion of how useful a divining rod might be but Tony's
not sure. And so on. A life size wooden Indian stands silent nearby. At the
counter, away from the lively debate and outrageous comments, owner Teri
Heppe is summing the previous days receipts. Calm and steady, she's paying
no attention to the group. Her last day job was teaching at Kingswood Middle
School so these guys are no challenge for her.
The Traditional New England Country Store...
Traditional New England country stores were
variously the post office, barter shop, importer
of exotic goods, clothier, feed station, checkers
center and meeting place. The motto was
famously, "We've got it, if we can find it!"
Their heyday was from the Civil War to the
early 1900's. They ended because mail order
and better transportation killed off their local
advantage. In those days, family accounts
were settled up when crops came in.
While some products came packaged --
LaCreole Hair Dressing, Uneeda Biscuits --
most were bought in bulk and sold by the pound. Unlike the supermarket of
today, most were served from "behind the counter". Soap, by the way, was
never a big seller, farm wives could and did make their own. It was a matter of
pride more than anything.
"It's a tradition for them." Teri's husband, Greg, says about the morning coffee
crowd. "Most are self-employed or retired so they can set their own schedule.
Some drop in, drink a half a cup and go on. Others come in when they are
around, like those living somewhere else and up here on the weekends. The
weekend crowd is completely different."
The store feels chock-full, a quality that harks back to those early stores.
Things for sale, things to admire and some things that have the unknown
quality of a good junk store, hang from the ceiling, walls and perch on all flat
surfaces.
...Where You Can Even Find a Post Office
In back is the Tuftonboro Post Office,
complete with frosted window and antique
mailboxes. Many products are local,
including Jim Clark's Black Bear coffees,
famous locally for winning a lawsuit
against giant coffee purveyor, Starbucks.
It has limited services and often the post
mistress has to call "downtown" to get
the current regulations.
But it makes up for it with personal service. Have you ever walked into a post
office hoping for a special package and have the postmaster yell, "It's not here
yet!" before you got to the window? When was the last time you saw a postal
employee hand carry a package to a patron's car? "The store is a...service to
the community, especially since it has the Post Office in it. Which, by the way,
was established in 1827," says Greg.
A Dying Breed?
According to a special report on country stores by New Hampshire Public
Radio, as many a half a dozen New Hampshire country stores closed in last
five years. Most blamed lack of buying power and increasingly difficult
Wal-Mart style competition.
In spite of significant local community help to survive others became
museums. Still others have had to seek shelter in the Alliance for Country
Stores. Currently focused on Vermont, the Alliance offers increased buying
power at the expense of the independence and individuality of traditional
stores. It remains to be seen if this trend will work in New Hampshire's "Live
Free or Die" atmosphere. At last report, the community groups in Sandwich
and Canterbury, NH were working to save their stores, as those in Heron and
Harrisburg were able to do.
Tough Times for this New England Tradition, but Tuftonboro Thrives
Greg and Teri bought the Tuftonboro Country Store several years ago when it
was beginning to look like it would disappear from what was once called
Mackerel Corner. It had been there since 1822. Their expectation was that it
would take several years to shake out the bugs and be profitable.
But the store, according to Greg, is
doing fine. In fact, it continues to
grow and add to it's offerings. It's
not completely obvious why this store
is successful and so many others fail.
For one thing, Greg and Teri shop
the big discount warehouses
aggressively. They also listen
carefully to their customers. They
weigh each new product decision
with the care of a farmer picking crops to plant. Greg is careful not to try to
stock a wide variety of everything due to strain of cost and shelf space.
However, when I point out there's a huge range of local and national beer
brands in his cooler -- Greg deadpans, "That's because beer's a priority."
The store is not particularly tourist oriented. At least not yet. In spite of being
close to Wolfeboro, it is off the water and not near major local attractions
unless you count being on the route to Castle-In-The-Clouds.
It is the local game weigh station but does not issue hunting and fishing
licenses: "...too time consuming." There's a very tasty pizza, subway and other
offerings at their grill, run by Mike, their son. As Greg points out, these types
of stores take a minimum of three people to run and, on cue, he's called away
to make change. He seems to know everyone's name, the trucks they drive,
and their kids.
There's no checkers game at the Tuftonboro General Store but Greg leaves out
a puzzle he built using a wood base and golf tees made when he taught high
school Industrial Arts. He quit when "it wasn't fun anymore." On the side,
Greg is a accomplished flautist, specializing in Celtic music, and is a regular in
the band, "Celtic Tradition." In fact, a couple years ago he started arranging
concerts of visiting Irish bands in a local church. These days, it's not
uncommon for the phone to ring at the store and the person on the line to be
calling from Ireland.
Greg recently observe: "There something bonding about a store. Part of a
bigger community. You can't be in this business without enjoying the people
side. It's what the business is about."
Maybe New Hampshire Public Radio's recent story about general stores
missed a point about how these stores can survive. When I take a picture of
the early morning crowd's lively chat, Teri watches over my shoulder. They
ignore me. She smiles gently and observes, "You know that's what this place
is about."
For more information visit
Tuftonboro General Store.
Where New England's Traditional Sense
of Community Thrives
By Dan Derby
It's six a.m. and barely light outside. Inside the early crowd, a mixture of
drop-ins and stay-awhiles, have filled the table in the Tuftonboro General
Store. There will be another crowd at 7:00 a.m. but these early stalwarts come
from as far away as Moultonboro to claim seats at the day's chat.
At State Highway 109A and Federal Corner Road there always just enough
room. There's a sense of conversations that started some time ago and
continued today.
How much a cord for firewood this year?
How were Steve's daughter's first days at UNH?
Where's Tony's well project?
The crowd splits it's opinion of how useful a divining rod might be but Tony's
not sure. And so on. A life size wooden Indian stands silent nearby. At the
counter, away from the lively debate and outrageous comments, owner Teri
Heppe is summing the previous days receipts. Calm and steady, she's paying
no attention to the group. Her last day job was teaching at Kingswood Middle
School so these guys are no challenge for her.
The Traditional New England Country Store...
Traditional New England country stores were
variously the post office, barter shop, importer
of exotic goods, clothier, feed station, checkers
center and meeting place. The motto was
famously, "We've got it, if we can find it!"
Their heyday was from the Civil War to the
early 1900's. They ended because mail order
and better transportation killed off their local
advantage. In those days, family accounts
were settled up when crops came in.
While some products came packaged --
LaCreole Hair Dressing, Uneeda Biscuits --
most were bought in bulk and sold by the pound. Unlike the supermarket of
today, most were served from "behind the counter". Soap, by the way, was
never a big seller, farm wives could and did make their own. It was a matter of
pride more than anything.
"It's a tradition for them." Teri's husband, Greg, says about the morning coffee
crowd. "Most are self-employed or retired so they can set their own schedule.
Some drop in, drink a half a cup and go on. Others come in when they are
around, like those living somewhere else and up here on the weekends. The
weekend crowd is completely different."
The store feels chock-full, a quality that harks back to those early stores.
Things for sale, things to admire and some things that have the unknown
quality of a good junk store, hang from the ceiling, walls and perch on all flat
surfaces.
...Where You Can Even Find a Post Office
In back is the Tuftonboro Post Office,
complete with frosted window and antique
mailboxes. Many products are local,
including Jim Clark's Black Bear coffees,
famous locally for winning a lawsuit
against giant coffee purveyor, Starbucks.
It has limited services and often the post
mistress has to call "downtown" to get
the current regulations.
But it makes up for it with personal service. Have you ever walked into a post
office hoping for a special package and have the postmaster yell, "It's not here
yet!" before you got to the window? When was the last time you saw a postal
employee hand carry a package to a patron's car? "The store is a...service to
the community, especially since it has the Post Office in it. Which, by the way,
was established in 1827," says Greg.
A Dying Breed?
According to a special report on country stores by New Hampshire Public
Radio, as many a half a dozen New Hampshire country stores closed in last
five years. Most blamed lack of buying power and increasingly difficult
Wal-Mart style competition.
In spite of significant local community help to survive others became
museums. Still others have had to seek shelter in the Alliance for Country
Stores. Currently focused on Vermont, the Alliance offers increased buying
power at the expense of the independence and individuality of traditional
stores. It remains to be seen if this trend will work in New Hampshire's "Live
Free or Die" atmosphere. At last report, the community groups in Sandwich
and Canterbury, NH were working to save their stores, as those in Heron and
Harrisburg were able to do.
Tough Times for this New England Tradition, but Tuftonboro Thrives
Greg and Teri bought the Tuftonboro Country Store several years ago when it
was beginning to look like it would disappear from what was once called
Mackerel Corner. It had been there since 1822. Their expectation was that it
would take several years to shake out the bugs and be profitable.
But the store, according to Greg, is
doing fine. In fact, it continues to
grow and add to it's offerings. It's
not completely obvious why this store
is successful and so many others fail.
For one thing, Greg and Teri shop
the big discount warehouses
aggressively. They also listen
carefully to their customers. They
weigh each new product decision
with the care of a farmer picking crops to plant. Greg is careful not to try to
stock a wide variety of everything due to strain of cost and shelf space.
However, when I point out there's a huge range of local and national beer
brands in his cooler -- Greg deadpans, "That's because beer's a priority."
The store is not particularly tourist oriented. At least not yet. In spite of being
close to Wolfeboro, it is off the water and not near major local attractions
unless you count being on the route to Castle-In-The-Clouds.
It is the local game weigh station but does not issue hunting and fishing
licenses: "...too time consuming." There's a very tasty pizza, subway and other
offerings at their grill, run by Mike, their son. As Greg points out, these types
of stores take a minimum of three people to run and, on cue, he's called away
to make change. He seems to know everyone's name, the trucks they drive,
and their kids.
There's no checkers game at the Tuftonboro General Store but Greg leaves out
a puzzle he built using a wood base and golf tees made when he taught high
school Industrial Arts. He quit when "it wasn't fun anymore." On the side,
Greg is a accomplished flautist, specializing in Celtic music, and is a regular in
the band, "Celtic Tradition." In fact, a couple years ago he started arranging
concerts of visiting Irish bands in a local church. These days, it's not
uncommon for the phone to ring at the store and the person on the line to be
calling from Ireland.
Greg recently observe: "There something bonding about a store. Part of a
bigger community. You can't be in this business without enjoying the people
side. It's what the business is about."
Maybe New Hampshire Public Radio's recent story about general stores
missed a point about how these stores can survive. When I take a picture of
the early morning crowd's lively chat, Teri watches over my shoulder. They
ignore me. She smiles gently and observes, "You know that's what this place
is about."
For more information visit
Tuftonboro General Store.
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