Paige O’Brien enjoys a latte decorated with a heart at the General Store. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Imagine traveling back in time to the 1800s and visiting a rural general store. Stepping inside, you might hear a heated political debate under way next to a woodstove during a game of checkers. Look around and you’d likely see floor-to-ceiling shelves lining every wall, crammed with canned goods, boots, lanterns, and cloth—everything the local farmers, homemakers, and school children needed to survive. Make your way past barrels of molasses, sacks of flour, and crates of fresh produce to the counter, hand your list to the proprietor, and catch up on local news and gossip with your neighbors while you wait for your order to be filled.
A vision fulfilled
Now return to 2013 and step into the Harvard General Store at 1 Still River Road in Harvard, Mass. While goods and lifestyles may have changed, the look and feel is much the same. Political debates are carried on now at tables near the store windows, neighbors catch up over coffee and fresh pastries, and busy residents stop by to grab something for the commute or tonight’s dinner. It’s a lively scene, fulfilling a goal of Harvard’s 2002 Master Plan, which envisioned a revitalized town center. But the fulfillment of that vision is clearly the handiwork of owner Scott Hayward.
Hayward bought the store in August 2012 from Adam and Lyn Horowitz, who still own the building. A former architect and real estate developer, Hayward dreamed of making the General Store a hub for the town, much like the general stores of old. And he feels he’s making progress. “What I love about it right now is that it’s all things to all people. We get people in here from all walks of life. It’s like a contemporary Tabard Inn from the Canterbury Tales.”
A first step was his decision to stock his shelves with a large selection of convenience items—everything from Band-Aids to Heinz Ketchup. His best-selling offerings are Tate’s cookies and Gold Medal flour, but demand varies. “Last week for some reason we sold a ton of olives,” he said. The convenience store items don’t turn over much, Hayward says. They’re not a big profit maker, but he carries them “as a public service.”
Sugar time
The General Store has also become a mecca for Bromfield kids in search of some after-school sugar. The line forms quickly soon after dismissal time. Store clerk Carin Klem knows her customers’ tastes well. Just before the rush, she told of two girls who come in every afternoon to purchase ginger peach tea and a piece of fudge. Sure enough, ten minutes later, sixth-graders Chloe Fitzgibbons and Safiye Ali appeared at the the cash register, first in line with their usual order. “These are my ginger peach tea girls!” announced Klem. The biggest candy sellers? Laffy Taffy and Airheads, with Arizona leading the cold drinks.
A grilled bacon, tomato, and cheese panini is just one of the lunchtime options at the General Store’s café. (Photo by Meagan Scully)
A major factor to the town-hub feel of the store is its café. When the town sewer system became operational in January, 2013, the General Store received approval to open a 30-seat café. A new seating area was created next to the store’s front windows, and the café opened in April. It’s a pleasant spot to chat with friends or read the paper while enjoying a light meal. The café serves breakfast and lunch from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Food is prepared by Chef Brad Tolan, assisted by Michelle Young and Bromfield grad Daniel Jackson, who is off to culinary school at Johnson & Wales in the fall. Store manager Mark Bonin, who has years of restaurant experience, created the original menu. It includes a variety of sandwiches, the most popular being the turkey, bacon, and tomato panini according to Chef Tolan. Ham, turkey, and chicken are baked in-house and carved off the bone. They also make their own mayo and hummus fresh daily. “We literally run out every day, by intention,” says Hayward.
Bikers’ mecca
Vegetarian options include a veggie wrap with hummus, marinated beets, Persian cucumbers, roasted red peppers, and pine nuts. Hayward adds, “We’d like to expand the vegetarian options. I’d like to add a portobello burger.” Also available are homemade soups from Wilder Cuisine, such as their popular tortilla soup and clam chowder.
Café customers include residents, area workers, and a large number of bike riders. Chef Tolan said, “Most people wouldn’t believe it, but we get 25 to 40 bikers in here every day. On weekends, 100 to 200. We need a bigger kitchen!”
Last month, Hayward added scooped ice cream and outdoor grilling. The outdoor menu is currently hamburgers and hot dogs and is available only on weekends, but Hayward hopes to expand grilling operations to weeknights. “I have to dedicate manpower, so I have to figure out a way to make it work economically.”
General Store proprietor Scott Hayward (left) and his son Danny with apples from Carlson Orchards. (Courtesy photo)
Local by choice
In the general stores of old, most of the goods sold were local by necessity. As transportation improved, local goods disappeared from the shelves. But they’re popping up again in small stores, and the General Store is no exception. “We are trending toward local,” says Hayward. The list of local products backs that up. The coffee is from George Howell of Acton and Gracenote of Berlin. The fresh baked goods are from Bliss in Groton and Nashoba Brook in Concord. Prepared foods, both frozen and fresh, are from Wilder Cuisine in Concord. There are chocolate chunk cookies from Harvard Sweets and plastic pails and shovels from Blinky Toys in Ayer. For those of you who crave an ear of sweet corn from Willard’s on a hot August night, you will find it at the General. Hayward lights up when talking about this part of his business. “I’m dealing with people who are not just vendors, but members of the community. We’re helping each other build our businesses. There is tremendous camaraderie” he said.
A long-standing need
Adding wine and beer to the store filled a long-standing need in town, and became possible in June 2010 when the store was granted a wine and malt license. The Horowitzes were the first to bring wine and beer into the General, but Hayward says he thought it was important to lower the price point of the wines sold in the store to somewhere between $10 and $15 a bottle to better serve his customer base. In order to price his wines competitively, he buys from small grower-producers. These are “mostly family-run vineyards that produce 5,000 cases a year instead of 50,000,” says Hayward. “My prices for these wines average about 10 percent below most of the surrounding wine shops.” The selection of beers sold in the store follow the same logic—he sells what he can price competitively, which is mostly beer from New England breweries and smaller breweries.
Downstairs is the “grab and go” wine and beer section, featuring Hayward’s most popular sellers. Currently, there’s a selection of chilled summer wines that include his best-selling wine, Celestin Blondeau Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley. There are also summer whites from Portugal, Spain, and Italy, as well as rosés and rieslings. In the beer section, “We can’t keep the summer ales in stock, they sell so fast,” says Hayward. Their most popular craft beer, The People’s Pint, brewed in Greenfield, Mass., is also downstairs in the refrigerated section by necessity. This all natural unpasteurized beer must stay refrigerated from the time it’s brewed.
Upstairs, there’s a more extensive selection of wine. Hayward and wine manager Stephen Haas help customers find a wine for any occasion or menu that will fit into their budget. They can also put together mixed cases or “themed” cases, such as “a tour of France.”
Tastings not just about wine
Upstairs is also the home of regular wine tastings, held on most Saturdays from 4 to 7 p.m. The tastings are large—typically eight to 12 bottles. Ninety percent of the time the wines are from a single distributor who is there to pour and talk about the chosen labels. Many of these distributors have been to the winery and met the grower. In some cases, they’ve known the producer for years, so they are very knowledgeable about the wines they’re pouring. Sometimes Hayward and Haas put together a “thematic tasting,” as they did last Thanksgiving when they partnered with Wilder Cuisine, who brought in four roast turkeys to taste the wines with.
The wine tastings are not just about the wine—they’re social events that sometimes include live jazz. The second floor is also home to other events, such as the Four Stories author reading held in May. Hayward would like to expand the events side of the business and possibly even hire an event planner. This would benefit the store economically, as well as add to the town-hub concept that he envisions for the store. In addition to in-house events, Hayward also partners with the Center on the Common jazz concerts, delivering previously purchased wines to concert-goers.
Finding its identity
Hayward feels that the General Store is “beginning to develop its identity. I want to create things that are a unique fit for people in town. I’d like it to be an institution. If people could go for a swim at the beach on a warm summer evening and come over here for a burger and some ice cream, it could be a wonderful experience.” And on a cold winter day? Maybe a wood stove and some checkerboards.
