The Local General Store Makes a Comeback

If you were born and raised in a rural community in New Brunswick back in the 50’s and 60’s, chances are you’ll well remember the local general store. It was chock-full of dry goods, meats, vegetables, canned goods and other miscellaneous items too numerous to mention. It was also the hub of the community – a place where people would gather to catch up on all the news with their neighbours. Unfortunately, by the time the 70’s rolled around, the local grocery store was often forced to close their doors due to heavy competition from ‘big box’ stores.

Thankfully, in Hillsborough, NB, that trend is slowly being reversed with the opening of the Hillsborough ValuFoods grocery store on Main Street!
Back in 2008, Terry Stafford, President of the store, was living in Chipman, NB, enjoying retirement after having spent 52 years mostly employed in the retail grocery trade. After a conversation with his son Terry Junior (JR), Terry decided that he could help out his son, called his contacts at Co-Op Atlantic and told them that he was ready to go back into the work force and did they have a store they’d like him to open. His timing couldn’t have been more spot on because it turned out they were looking at opening a ValuFoods in Hillsborough and Terry jumped at the opportunity to once more take on the responsibility of being the driving force behind the new enterprise, and eventually having his son JR take over and carry on the business.

“I love the retail grocery trade,” says Terry enthusiastically. “Even when I was retired, I still got up at 4:30 am, mainly out of habit. Most delivery trucks for the store roll in sometime between 6:00 am and 7:00 am, so I’m used to putting in long hours. Plus we’re open 7 days a week from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm, and you can usually find me here at any given time during those 7 days. I’m very glad that I said yes when the folks at Co-op said they had a new store to open. I love Hillsborough and the sense of community here as well. It’s a great place to live and an even better place to do business.”

And his business is doing well judging by the steady stream of people coming through the front doors. “Locals were very glad to see a full-service grocery store being opened here,” states Terry. “We not only carry the usual grocery items such as meats, dairy, vegetables, fruits, dry goods etc., we also offer tasty take-out items from the Pizza Twice store and Broaster char-broiled chicken so people have an alternative to cooking. I always tell folks that if there is an item that we don’t carry, just let me know and I’ll see if I can’t start stocking it for them.”

It’s this community-minded spirit and friendliness that keeps people coming back to ValuFoods. Before this store opened, the only alternative residents of Hillsborough and Alma had concerning purchasing groceries was to drive to nearby Riverview and Moncton, some 25 kilometers away. While some still do make the trip into these neighboring areas, ValuFoods provides a wide array of items on a smaller scale, right in people’s back yards so to speak. Plus the older generation in the area love the fact that the store is smaller and easier to navigate compared to the larger ones in the city.

“I know I most likely would have gone ahead and opened ValuFoods without the help I received through the CBDC Westmorland Albert, but I can guarantee the experience wouldn’t have been as easy or pleasant,” states Terry. “The people at the CBDC are top-notch and always ready to help me out if I have any questions about business. They offer personalized service, just like we do here in my own store. It doesn’t get much better than that!”

With 21 full-time and part-time employees, ValuFoods provides a two-part service to the Hillsborough area. One is through offering a full service grocery store to the community and surrounding area, and the second part is through providing additional jobs in a town whose economy had slowed down significantly through the past decade or two.
And that makes everyone in the community, including Terry Stafford, very happy.

© Marlene Oulton 2014