This story was originally produced by the Valley News. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Mascoma Valley Preservation is seeking a proprietor to operate a general store scheduled to open in September on the first floor of the Grafton Center Meetinghouse on Route 4.
The Mascoma Valley Preservation would continue to own the building and charge the proprietor around $1,600 per month to rent roughly 4,000 square feet of space, which is split between the first floor store and the basement, which can be used for storage, according to a description posted to the Grafton-based nonprofit’s website.
“We’re looking for a friendly, creative and motivated-in-food person,” said Andrew Cushing, executive director of the Grafton-based nonprofit organization that works to preserve historic properties in the Mascoma Valley. “We know the bulk of the business will be with the deli and to-go foods so we want to make sure the quality of the food is what’s driving attendance.”
The Grafton Country Store closed in 2018, and since then the town’s roughly 1,350 residents have had to travel to Danbury, N.H., or Canaan to get groceries.
The need for a place closer to home to pick up necessities was one of the things that came up in discussions with community members after Mascoma Valley Preservation purchased the building in 2019.
“The idea came not immediately, but when we kind of quizzed the community on what they wanted to see in the building we heard three common requests: one was it for to be on the tax rolls, another was a general store and the last was just to have a conditioned year-round place for people to gather,” Cushing said, noting that the organization will pay taxes on the building, which has heat and air conditioning, because it will be operated as a business.
Current plans call for using the second floor as a community gathering space, Cushing said.
The historic gathering spot was built in 1797 and has been used to host religious services, as well as town events, according to Mascoma Valley Preservation.
In 2016, when the meetinghouse was known as the Peaceful Assembly Church, it caught fire and killed the congregation’s minister.
Mascoma Valley Preservation purchased the heavily damaged building in 2019 and has been renovating it since then. The $1.5 million project has been fully funded by grants and private donations.
The store would be a good fit for visitors to Ruggles Mine, which draws mineral enthusiasts from all over the Northeast, said Joe Bodge, who purchased the mine in 2023 and opened it to the public the following year. The mine is about 2½ miles from the meetinghouse and the turnoff for Riddle Hill Road, which visitors take to Ruggles Mine, is visible from the historic building’s parking lot.
Currently, the mine sells prepackaged snacks and drinks, Bodge said. Visitors often camp at Ruggles, which is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend this year, and it would be nice for them to have places to purchase more complete meals in town.
“I think especially in the summer months they’d do really well with it,” Bodge said.
Michelle Riordan, who lives near Ruggles Mine and offers cookies, crafts and camping from her Riddle Hill Homestead, also was enthusiastic about the prospects for a new store in town.
“It gives people another reason to stop and stay and visit and come back to Grafton; something to show that Grafton is not just a drive through on Route 4 kind of place,” Riordan said.
Riordan, who co-founded Let’s Grow Grafton to promote Grafton’s small businesses late last year, is particularly enthusiastic about Mascoma Valley Preservation’s plans to include goods from local crafters, farmers and makers. The majority the roughly 35 businesses Riordan is aware of in town are operated out of people’s homes and there aren’t any places in town where they can consistently sell their products.
“Having a big place for all the Grafton people to show their wares would be wonderful,” she said. “It sounds like it’s going to fit right in with what all the business owners here are doing.”
Applicants for the store proprietor role must submit a letter of interest and a business plan for how they will go about operating the store. Applications open April 30 and are scheduled to close May 28. Applications can be submitted via mascomavalleypreservation.org/marketplace.
A committee of eight community members, including those with retail experience, will review the applications and recommend a candidate to Mascoma Valley Preservation’s board of directors. The goal is to have someone in place prior to September, Cushing said.
“We wanted to acknowledge that it can take someone several months to get their business license, their liquor license,” he said. Additionally, the organization wants the storekeeper to have a say in the business’ layout as the project nears completion to “give them some opportunity to customize the space to benefit their vision.”
That customization has limits, however. The store does not have gas pumps and there are no plans to add them at this time, Cushing said.
