8 Old Vermont General Store Habits That Still Feel Normal Today

Vermont licenses about 80 stores to sell liquor on the state’s behalf, according to its Division of Liquor Control.

A lot of them smell like a hardware aisle.

A shopper picks up eggs, a phone charger and a bottle of bourbon at one register and thinks nothing of it, which is the part that surprises many other Americans.

These are the old Vermont general store habits that still feel normal today.

1. Pierce’s Never-Closing Gathering Spot

Pierce’s General Store in Shrewsbury opened in 1865 as more than a place to buy flour and sugar.

Neighbors gathered there to play checkers beside a potbellied stove and catch up on the news, warding off the isolation of a long Vermont winter.

The store nearly shut down for good, until neighbors bought the building and turned it into a cooperative the town still runs together.

That cooperative fills the same room today with chili cook-offs, movie nights, and a summer blueberry festival, plus a children’s art exhibit in a converted garage out back.

The room never emptied out.

2. The News on the Bulletin Board

Strafford General Store in South Strafford posts its local news the old-fashioned way, tacked to a bulletin board by the door.

A nonprofit trust of neighbors bought the building in June 2025 to keep the doors open, and the board never missed a beat.

The board fills up fast.

A used snowblower, a lost dog, and next week’s church supper can all share the same corkboard in a given week.

The Coburn family ran the store for 47 years before the trust took over.

A laundromat in the basement and a bank window up front sit exactly where longtime shoppers remember them.

3. Mail Call at the Counter

West Townshend Country Store doubles as the town’s post office, with a window built into the counter.

Neighbors buy stamps and mail a package in the same breath they grab a coffee.

One stop covers both.

The store runs its café on a donation basis, so the mail line and the lunch line often turn into the same line.

Live music takes over some evenings, and Tuesdays bring the store’s burger night.

The crowd picking up mail at noon is often back again by evening, just for the burgers.

4. Penny Candy by the Piece

Dorset Union Store fills its penny candy jars the same way it did decades ago, right by the register.

Shoppers pick out a handful of pieces one at a time, the same way people have for generations.

A full bakery case sits just a few feet away, turning out fresh croissants and scones every morning, plus a soft-serve creemee once summer hits.

Dorset Union Store keeps a full-service deli going too, but the candy jars are what many people photograph on the way out.

Nothing here comes bagged.

5. License With Your Coffee

Lincoln General Store sells more than groceries; it's one of the general and country stores the state lists as official license agents for hunters and anglers.

A hunter can grab a coffee, a fishing license, and a box of shells without leaving the building.

One counter, one stop.

Vermont's Fish and Wildlife Department treats the general store the same as any big sporting-goods outfitter for licensing purposes.

Nobody has to drive an hour just for a stamp on a permit.

6. State Liquor, Same Counter as Milk

Vermont doesn't let a general store sell liquor as its inventory, the way it sells chips or milk.

The state licenses about 80 agency stores to handle spirits on its behalf, and general stores make up a share of that list.

Olney's General Store in Orleans and Jay Country Store, up near the Canadian border, both ring up state-controlled bottles at the same register where a shopper pays for eggs.

There's no separate liquor aisle.

Vermont brands the whole setup 802 Spirits, and that's the name over the counter at both stores, not the store's logo.

7. Frank Gillingham's Guarantee From 1886

Frank Gillingham's general store in Woodstock still promises "your money's worth or your money back," the same guarantee he made when he opened it in 1886.

His family still runs the place today, more than 140 years later, as F.H. Gillingham & Sons.

The shelves back it up with the same old-fashioned mix: Vermont cheese and maple syrup next to gifts and clothing, all under one roof.

Nothing about it changed.

8. Gas Pumps and a Deer Tally

DeBanville's General Store in Bloomfield still pumps gas out front today, one of the services listed on its current site.

Jim and Mary Jo Mazzonna reopened the store in 2017, after it had sat closed for a stretch.

Hunters bring a deer, bear, or turkey there to get it logged, since Vermont requires reporting within 48 hours, in person or online.

The list grows fast.