Changes

Parting is such sweet sorrow. The Sweetness of fond memories overlaid with the Sorrow that no more moments will be had.

It is with such that we are announcing the end of our time here in this historic spot and will be closing our doors at the Canterbury Country Store by the end of January. We truly hope that this is a temporary move and that someone else will step up and step into our shoes at this updated place we have created.

WHY?!!!

When we have had so much fun and you have been streaming in?

As it turns out, you didn’t really need a grocery store.

You have LOVED our bakery goods and prepared foods; but not so much the groceries.

You have LOVED the artisan wares; but not too many groceries.

You have loved the large gathering space for your meetings and art shows; but the groceries…not much.

And you have loved the routine of your morning coffee and your visits with friends and the ease of picking up your mail.

BUT…

… a cafe we are not; we are a grocery store. And a grocery store is not a grocery store without the sales of groceries and a general country store is not a general store with sales in only a couple categories.

We get it, we really do. Things are tight and why buy something here when you can get it at Market Basket for less just minutes away? And you have your favorite brands that we may not carry or cannot get access to. And you shop the Coop so just grab what you need there. And DoorDash is convenient. We were trying to walk the tight rope to give you what you need while offer you things that maybe you didn’t need but were surprised to find. It just seems that all lumped together you would prefer to shop elsewhere for most all your grocery needs.

No hard feelings.

And while many folks from out of town travel here for those grocery surprises, the overhead of keeping such a large space open to sell to a few does not cost out. And only selling baked goods, sandwiches and prepared meals cannot support the overhead either.

Let us say that there have always been the loyal few that recognized the need to support a store by spending here and there on grocery items to keep it going for the town. THANK YOU to all of you! The town has cherished your efforts and we recognized it too.

You need to know that we did not do the store to line our pockets. There was a realistic expectation that it never could pay a large wage. It was our intention to shape the space and pave the way for future businesses. We did this for you but for now we cannot sustain the effort. Thank you for your patronage and for the opportunity to serve you these last 2 1/2 years.

Jane and Dave

If you or someone you know would like to be the next owner/operator, please reach out to our Landlords, your Canterbury Community Market LLC, to discuss this. And we would be more than happy to help you shape a plan and get started.

The place is fully equipped and we have additional equipment, store operating manuals and prepared food & bakery recipes that we could pass on to you. What will it be next?!!!

Contact LLC: canterburycommunitymarketllc@gmail.com
Contact Dave and Jane: canterburynhcs@gmail.com

This BLOG will continue for the near future and stay tuned for where it will go from here.

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