New Owner

For an Old Store

In the days before cars whizzed up and down smoothly paved highways, nearly every hamlet had a general store. Usually a modest, framed building with well-oiled wooden floors, they sported shelves laden with all the things residents could not grow or make.

Once a necessity of rural life, general stores have largely disappeared from the 21st-century landscape, replaced by boring box stores that cater to the unsatiable consumerism of modern life. But it is still possible to step back into a quieter time by visiting the tiny hamlet of Riverton where wide streets are lined by homes built of mellow-toned brick, by the historic 1796 Riverton Inn and the lovely Episcopal and Congregational churches which both date from the first half of the 19th-century.

Not the least of the attractions of the village is the Riverton General Store, the history of which is said to extend back to the 1850s. The current building was erected in 1889 and was originally operated by the Hart Brothers, the first of many owners. It is an edifice that has played a central role in the community for 134 years, acting as a general store, post office and a center for village social life. Here in the hall above the retail outlet, the Barkhamsted Chamber of Commerce met and the building was the site of the birth of the Riverton Grange in 1908.

While the store has seen many owners over the centuries, those owners have been faithful to its hometown feel. From 1981 until 2004, it was owned by Ed and Roberta Petit, who kept its doors open from early morning until late afternoon. Roberta’s 2021 obituary recalls her early presence every morning, “getting coffee and newspapers ready for her customers,” the building’s windows pouring out warm light toward the dawning day.

The Petits ensured the continuation of the business in 2004 when they sold building, businesses and a collection of antiques to Leslie DiMartino who decorated the walls with antique tools, products like Rinso soap powder and vintage advertisements, including one with Babe Ruth swinging three bats and promoting a “chaw” of Pinch Hit chewing tobacco.

DiMartino, like her predecessor, was noted for her delicious sandwiches, said by some to be the best in Connecticut. Then, last year she decided it was time to let go and find new owners for a very old store. Happily, she found just the right match living two houses away, in a sweet little yellow Victorian home.

The house is occupied by Paul and Jennifer Dailey, who moved to Riverton several years ago to establish a home for their blended family of four children. Jennifer said her husband, a project manager for nursing facilities, was attracted to the village because of general store.

“He liked the old-time feeling,” she said.

Mrs. Dailey, a busy woman in her own right, worked as the regional business office manager for a chain of nursing homes. Once established in town, she eyed the little general store wistfully. “I always told him I would like to own that store,” she reported. “Then one day we heard that Leslie was retiring and wanted to sell. I enjoyed my job but it was time for a change and I kind of wanted to own my own business, to have something that was mine.”

The one-year anniversary of her leap of faith came this week and she has no regrets. “I’m still adjusting,” she admitted. “There was a lot to learn. I think I have the ordering down now but that was a big learning curve—knowing how busy you would be at what times in the day and the year. I’ve completed a whole cycle now and I’m starting to understand how it goes.”

She said she worked for six weeks with DiMartino before taking possession and has cheat sheets from the former owner on where and what to order. “You kind of figure it out as you go but you have to go through a whole cycle to see it,” she said.

She has now identified spring and summer as very busy times when anglers come to the famed west branch of the Farmington River to fish. Fall brings a spate of business when the town holds its annual agricultural fair, the last of the season in Connecticut, and peaks again in December during Christmas in Riverton, a weekend-long Dickensian fairytale.

“We have a lot of local trade but we also get people from all over,” she said. They come looking for breakfast or lunch, hot coffee, cold drinks and snacks. Or they might pick up a loaf of bread or other food staple, fishing supplies or a souvenir.

As busy as she was before, she has found the life of a small-town businessperson demanding. “I get a little bit of down time but I’m pretty much here seven days a week, from open to close. I am thankful for what I have,” she concluded.

The Riverton General Store is located at 2 Main Street in the Riverton hamlet of Barkhamsted, (860) 379-0811