I love the idea of a community General Store. One-stop-shopping for small town needs. I visited one in western Massachusetts several years ago that offered a wide variety of sundries and dry goods, basic groceries, a florist, U.S. Mail service, and killer made-to-order omelets all under one roof. The town where it was located was tiny, but relatively speaking, not far at all to much larger towns and the biggest general store of all: WalMart.
The shop in this town was busy when I was there. I was told it is ALWAYS busy. The general store was a thriving business but also more or less a community center in this small town. Residents took pride in the general store as the center piece and heart of the town.
A friend forwarded me this article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/USPS-revising-plan-for-rb-2363557652.html?x=0&.v=1 which reminded me of the general store I had visited. According to this article, the USPS has taken the General Store approach recently in an attempt to cut costs by setting up services within other businesses. I suppose they would no longer have to pay for building leases, but customers would still receive mail and other USPS service.
I am trying to decide if this would be feasible in Inverness or Joplin. Both towns have very few businesses to begin with, let alone business that would mesh well with USPS offerings. Inverness has a restaurant/bar and an auto-shop, to my knowledge and as far as I know, Joplin has a bar and a florist. What would it take to get a Village Post Office or General Store with mail service situation set up in either of these towns?
first go to the usps website and see what the requirements are. Are there empty store fronts in those towns ? Would the State help with a grant or small business loan, ( I bet they would )
ReplyDeleteI love this idea!!!!! You did end your post with a question so I'm playing with an answer or a part of an answer. :) If it were me, I might start w an informal market study. I might find out the population and traffic that your favorite general store find itself in and attracts. I would call thriving/rural general stores in Montana and find out the population they pull from and traffic they inspire. I'd compare with the population you could draw from. Within the market study, I'd survey folks from as far as Joplin and Hingham to find out... If there were a general store closer than Chester, what would they want to see there? What specialty items do they wish they didn't have to travel to Great Falls for? How often do they purchase these speciality items? You might even test some of your own ideas to see if the market wants them. I'd also ask how far would they travel to a general store and how often? Etc... A romantic and exciting idea indeed!!! I could imagine the store also carrying local products such as your pot holders and quilts or a neighbor's preserves n jams, local pork and beef... What a juicy topic!!! :)
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot to consider here between what you both suggest and ideas flying around in my head. We don't know for sure if the Inverness Post Office will close or not-- it's just under consideration. Even if it does stay open, maybe a general store of some sort could still fly? You guys have given me lots to think about on this topic!
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