In many small Vermont towns, the general store meets urgent, local needs for all kinds of things, while usually serving visitors with a deli and gas pumps. Rarely very profitable, non-franchise country stores are treasured by supporters of community life, since they are usually nerve centers for local news and views, though not as much as during the days of sitting around the woodstove on cracker barrels.

A story from those days: someone steals the big round of cheddar from the general store counter. Instead of raising a hue and cry, the storekeeper just puts out another round of cheese. About a year later, a customer asks, "Did you ever find out who stole that big wheel of cheese last year?" "Ay-up," says the storekeeper, "and he's going to pay for it, too!"