Small town buys 141-year-old general store to save it from closure

Carol Kerr has lived in the small western New South Wales town of Cumnock her whole life. 

She says the town’s general store is the heart which keeps it going.

“Without it, there’d be nothing,” Carol says.

This was a prospect the community of 500 had to consider, after the business had been on the market for three years with no takers.

“It was a very scary time because our shop is really the only thing that we have left in our community,” says Robyn Bruce, a local for 46 years.

The “only thing left” offered more than one thing.

Locals could buy hardware, groceries and food, and do their post and banking at the Cumnock General Store.

“People, they could possibly leave [the town], because there would just be nothing. You’d have to go to the bigger places to use the post office and everything,” Carol says.

The closest town with these services is Molong, about 24 kilometres away.

Thirteen women, including Cumnock farmer Sarah Haynes, concluded there was only one way to ensure the store would stay in community hands.

The business has had five owners in its 141-year history. They had an idea to make the town its sixth.

The women created a not-for-profit and asked people to buy memberships, which would make them co-owners of the store.

Sarah says she didn’t know what to expect, but it didn’t include 196 people financially pitching in.

“We were absolutely blown away,” she says.

“It was amazing to see how many people jumped at the opportunity and really wanted to become [a member].”

Robyn, who is a co-owner and volunteer at the store, saw no option but to invest.

“I just thought it was a must, we had to do it … because if we didn’t do it, we weren’t going to have it, and if the community didn’t step up, we wouldn’t be here today.”

The Cumnock Village Preschool across the road also became a member.

Director Jesse Fulwood says even the children were relieved the store was there to stay.

“They love coming after school to grab an iceblock or a hot chocky, or we come over and have babycinos and things like that throughout the week, so they were so excited.”

Sarah and the store’s founding committee have a big vision for the old neighbour, which includes turning it into a large cafe and event space, aside from continuing its other services.

“We have a lot to do, a lot of repair work to do in this building, and we really want to bring it back to its glory days and make an experience,” she says.

That has included more than 90 locals ripping up lino, pulling out cool rooms, knocking out cabinetry, painting and other jobs to breathe new life into the old store.

“It was actually quite a heartfelt experience for a lot of us to see how amazing our community is and how they have come together to be so passionate about bringing this store to life,” Sarah says.

Carol says she wanders down to the general store for a coffee about once a week, but will make the trip more often now it is in community hands.

She says she did not hesitate to become a co-owner, and feels proud the store isn’t going anywhere.

“It was Sparks’s store, and then Pee Wee’s, and then Rudd’s, and now, ours.”