After a five-year hiatus, a general store on Columbia Falls is back in business.
Columbia Falls General, which operated from 2018 through 2020 under previous owners, re-opened last week. Kate and Zach Gorrell, owners of Salt & Oak Farm in Harrington, have leased the space and, like the previous owners, plan to feature locally made goods in the Main Street storefront.
In addition to the eggs and yarn from their farm, items in stock so far include breads from Valley Road Kitchen, rye from Maine Grains, preserves, cheese and frozen blueberries from Josh Pond, spinach from Farmer Kev, and pork products from Rockweed Farm.
They also are selling Precipice Coffee from Ellsworth and are offering hot coffee drinks and pastries, the latter of which are being made by LeAnne Dunham of Valley Road Kitchen. Megan Kroger and John Look of Skunk Ridge Farm, who were part of the store’s previous ownership group, also will sell produce at Columbia Falls General, she said.
It is still early in the growing season, and there is more space on the shelves that they are planning to fill, Kate Gorrell said.
“As small and beginner farmers ourselves, we’re very passionate about small farms and want to support farmers in getting their food to consumers as easily as possible,” she said.
Western Washington County has relatively few retail businesses not located directly on the Route 1 corridor, but the reopened store is one of those. The building dates to 1859, according to a recent real estate listing, and features a large front wooden porch with a view of local town office, library and post office.
For now, the store is open five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday, until they add more staff and expand their offerings, Gorrell said. The current hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends. They hope to stay open year round.
“We’ll be scaling and adjusting as we go,” she said. “For example ice cream is in our future, a popular offering in the previous store.”
Re-opening the store is a natural extension of the Gorrells’ farm, which they started in 2020, she said. The Gorrells, who have two children, ages 6 and 8, are both musicians. Zach teaches music in the local school district — and though they perform in the area as part of the New Orleans-style quintet Downeast Revelers, the farm has steadily grown in ways they didn’t expect five years ago, she said.
They also have a “very tiny cabin” on the farm that they rent out to guests.
“We believe in this incredible community and want to strengthen the connection between consumers and our local food producers,” she said.
