Please Help Reopen the East Calais General Store!

Welcome, I'm Jess!

I am devoting myself to reopening a Historical General Store that has been in operation since the 1850s. This Store has served the community as a town center, providing much-needed conveniences, food and essentials until it closed in 2019. I have been accepted to be the New Store Operator and am raising the funds to outfit the space to be able to provide the food and essentials that everyone who lives in the area and/or commutes on Vermont Route 14 needs.

Over the past year, I have been spending countless (unpaid) hours designing the business layout, meeting other business owners and managers, working extra jobs to save up money and educating myself to run a well-organized community store.

Please help me purchase equipment to get this store off the ground!!

As a big THANK YOU for your donation, I pledge to offer all donors an appreciation recognition once the Store opens. Whether you are a friend, family or future customer, please know that your support is appreciated and I want to recognize you.

Check out the press we've received so far:

New Life for The East Calais Store

ECCT

Lots in Store

Back History: The building is currently getting all the renovations it needs and will be efficient and all up to code thanks to all the efforts by the ECCT!!

As a historical landmark, the community could not let it be torn down so they formed a non-profit called the East Calais Community Trust and raised the funds to purchase the building. This extraordinary group of neighbors, all volunteering their time, also raised the funds to renovate the building to bring it back to code so that eventually the Store would again serve the community. The building is under major renovation until June 2023 with the hope that I will be able to open the New Store with enough inventory and much-needed conveniences for our community. I plan to be open 6 days a week for early commuters, serving essential beverages, coffee, breakfast, lunch and dinners to go as well as market goods and produce.

About me: I love providing great food and a welcoming space for people to enjoy. A space that is inclusive to everyone from the community with different budgets. To run this Store will be a dream come true and I have had lots of time to decide that it is what I want to do. I opened a farm cafe business in 2017 and was able to learn all the steps to make it happen and had a lot of support from the community however I was forced to close due to the new property owners deciding they no longer wanted a business thereafter I sunk my love into the property and had to move. I looked far and wide to continue my business.

This NEW opportunity is greatly supported by the property owner as well as the greater community, who is excited to have the Store back.

Thank you for reading this far and I hope you can donate something towards this cause and help me re-open the Store!!