A table of products at The Old Country Store. Photo by Matthew J. Mowry
Stepping through the doors of the Old Country Store and Museum in Moultonborough seems, as the saying goes, like stepping back through time. Penny candy, antique cash registers and old ice boxes, converted into modern coolers, add to the ambience of a bygone era.
Yet even these touches don’t come close to hinting at the age of this eclectic store that is a popular stop for tour buses. A Google search of the oldest store in America brings up many claims, and Old Country Store and Museum Owner Steve Holden is hesitant to make such a claim for his store. But it seems safe to say it is among the oldest retail stores in the country.
The Old Country Store and Museum traces its roots back to 1781, when the land and the barn where the store now sits was bought by George Freese from the town’s founding father, Jonathan Moulton. Holden says the business started as a tavern and trading post. Through the past 234 years, the store has changed hands nine times and played an integral role in the town, including serving as a meeting place for the Masons and serving twice as the town hall, Holden says.
Holden and his family (his wife Sile and daughter Jo are co-owners, and daughter Laurie is an employee) have owned the store for 43 years, buying it out of bankruptcy in the early 70s. Holden previously owned the Alstead Village Store, which he ran for a few years before receiving a purchase offer to sell that he couldn’t pass up. He and his wife searched for a new retail venture and came across the Old Country Store.
From right: Jo, Laurie and Steve Holden. Photo by Matthew J. Mowry
He quickly found out what he didn’t want the store to be—a corner grocery store. With tour buses going by, Holden decided it made sense to turn it into a general store, with a mix of tools, hardware, kitchen gadgets, clothes, collectibles and tchotchkes.
Coolers are stocked with old fashioned soda, and the store sells a wide selection of cheeses. “I have in my walk-in about 90 wheels of cheese that weigh 35 pounds each. I have 50 more coming in this week,” Holden says of the popular item. Another big seller is local maple syrup, which comes form Holden’s own farm. The store also sells between 200 and 250 five-gallon pails of pickles annually. Holden turned the upstairs into a museum, displaying his collection of antiques and old tools.
“Some people spend a lot of time in here,” Holden says. “It’s like the old stores I would run through as a kid.”
While Holden won’t discuss revenue, he says under his family’s ownership the store has only experienced four years when revenue didn’t grow. “This year we’re ahead of last year,” he says. During the summer the store employs nine, but in quieter seasons it’s just the family with one part-timer.
Summer and fall tend to be the busiest as are rainy days when tour buses need to change plans on the fly and find an indoor activity. The store has four tour buses come through on the busiest fall days, Holden says. “Last weekend, we were wall-to-wall people all day long,” he says.
For more information, visit nhcountrystore.com
Current Issue - May 2024