Hi, my name is Sarah and I’m the owner of Maria’s Country Store. I just celebrated my 8th year as sole proprietor! Maria, my mom had the business for almost 10 years before I took over.

I am no stranger to working hard, I have always been that person working 2 jobs or on my feet cooking 10-14 hours a day. The past eight years have had it’s challenges, any self employed, small businesses owner will tell you.

Our home, this business has been here since the mid 1800’s! Times have changed just a little bit over the years! I still love hearing all the stories of the many memories locals have of this old store.

As times change, business fluctuates, other businesses come and go. We’ve survived a few other businesses coming in nearby our small farming community, a travel stop/gas station less than 2 miles from here, the most recently painful is, of course, a Dollar General within 2 miles. There’s only about 15 of those within 10 miles of us but this last one hurt.

I am now relying even more so on my food sales rather than general store merchandise which is pretty hard to compete with the big chain stores, always has been, it’s tough being the little guy! But this is my livelihood, this is our home, I need this to work! Our locals have supported us this long, all these years, I need to keep cooking! The bills do not slow down, the insurances do not go down, the overhead is still the overhead.

I was extremely fortunate to be able to stay open during the pandemic, things were ok for awhile but as economy slows, things get harder for everyone. These past few winters have been tough enough for me to finally ask for help. My closest family and friends have helped so much over the years I’m humbled enough to ask you here for help if you can spare. Your donation will go towards keeping our lights on and tacking away at the debt I’ve accrued over the past few years.