Page 20 - Valley Table- Winter 2025

SHELF LIFE
Forget the Little House on the Prairie vibe. Today’s general stores go way beyond
the basics with sophisticated products and inventive wares. BY JANET SIROTO
COPAKE GENERAL
STORE
171 County Rte 7A, Copake
COXSACKIE GENERAL
STORE
45 Reed St, Coxsackie
W
e have seen
the future
of general
stores, and it’s
tinned fish. Or
perhaps chili
crisp.
While,
historically,
general stores
were where locals gathered
to buy everything from
washboards and tobacco
to sacks of grain and penny
candy, today, Hudson Valley
entrepreneurs are putting a
clever, food-focused spin on
these businesses. Many of
them have espresso-based
drinks and breakfast fare
as their heartbeat, but also
delight locals with both
“help, I’m desperate” staples
(milk, eggs) and surprising
artisanal cheeses and global
condiments. While you
may not have set out to buy
pistachio pesto or Japanese
Kewpie mayo, we bet you’re
heading home with it.
Here, get to know eight
of the area’s most creative,
upscale general stores.
Needing a change from her
relentless career as a network
news writer/producer in
NYC, Seung Suh opened
the Copake General Store
in December of 2017. “I
somewhat selfishly decided
to open the kind of store I
would like to shop in,” says the
Ancram resident.
What that meant was a place
where you could pop in and
get that one missing item (a
carrot, an onion) you needed
for a recipe. And, also where
you could buy ready-to-eat or
takeout food that ranges from
familiar, like turkey chili and
beef stew, to the boundary-
pushing—perhaps a roast beef
banh mi sandwich, piled high
with radishes, cilantro, and
spicy mayo.
Suh favors local producers
and businesses (many of them
female- and minority-owned)
whenever possible, stocking
Phoenicia Diner pancake mix,
for instance, plus gorgeous
cutting and cheese boards
crafted by Stanfordville-based
KHEM Studios.
“Because we are in such a
small town, I wanted to have a
place where people would get
to know their neighbors. To see
those connections being made
is incredibly important and
rewarding to me.”
Amy Bennett is no stranger
to owning a local store: She
opened the Greene Grape in
Brooklyn 20 years ago, which
began as a wine shop and
evolved to include a kitchen
and provisions store. So when
she began living part-time in
Coxsackie, she couldn’t resist
the pull of doing business on
the town’s main street.
Her upstate shop opened
September of 2023 not as a
museum of food, she says,
but a place locals can get
necessities, like vegetables.
“Produce obviously spoils,”
she says, “but it’s a challenge
we’re committed to.” Bennett
works with nearby businesses
FarOut Container Farm and
Stoneberry Farm to keep her
supplies super-fresh.
There’s an excellent stash
of delectable imports, such
as Spanish tinned fish, fancy
French butter, and Australian
Tim Tam cookies which have
triggered a local obsession.
But what may bring most
people through the door is
the excellent array of teas and
coffees, delicious soups of the
day, and splendid baked goods.
“You can grab coffee and a
snack, bump into a neighbor,
and then pick up some milk
for breakfast the next day,” says
Bennett. “It’s one of the really
18 Valley Table | December 2024 – February 2025
PHOTO BY THE HUNTER HOUSES