Strafford, Vermont, raises $1.8 million to keep its village general store open
When the owners of Coburns' General Store in South Strafford, Vermont, wanted to retire and no buyer came forward, residents formed the Strafford Community Trust. It reached its $1.8 million goal with gifts from more than 125 families, enough to buy the store and keep it open.
Coburns' General Store in South Strafford, Vermont, is more than a grocery. It also houses a small laundromat, a bank and a post office branch, all of which would have gone if the store closed. Melvin and Sue Coburn, whose family had run it since 1977, announced plans to retire in 2022, and when they put it on the market no offers came in.
So the community stepped in. Residents of Strafford and the surrounding Upper Valley formed the Strafford Community Trust, a nonprofit, to buy the building and the business. In October 2024 the trust signed an option agreement with the Coburns, and by the end of January 2025 it had reached its $1.8 million fundraising goal. More than 125 families from Strafford and neighbouring towns contributed.
The money will cover the purchase, support a proprietor to run the store and pay for repairs, including structural work on the foundation. The trust was close to an agreement with an experienced small-grocery manager.
"That was what we wanted from the beginning," Sue Coburn said of the store staying a general store for the community. She expected the handover in June and planned to keep the store running as usual until then.
Community ownership has kept other rural Vermont stores alive, in Barnard, Putney, Craftsbury and Albany. "I hope it's a positive message for other towns," said trust president Trudi Brock.
A village kept its grocery, post office and meeting place by buying the store together.
Source: Trust reaches goal to purchase Coburns' store in Strafford (VTDigger).
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