More and more convenience stores seem to be developing a different interpretation of the word convenience than our good friends Merriam and Webster. You mean I get to wait in line for 15 minutes to be greeted by a texting store employee and spend 20 percent of my personal worth on warm soda and stale granola bars? How convenient!
Thankfully for Concord, there is a strong network of local store owners bucking that trend, sharing products and customers in order to extend their reach and passionately embrace the movement to shop local. They don’t necessarily consider themselves convenience stores; they’re neighborhood stores.
The Korner Kupboard at 394 N. State St. is at the forefront of that movement, tapping into tried and true tenets of local store ownership like having familiar faces behind the counter and familiar products on the shelves. The store has teamed with numerous local outlets and offers meats from Quality Cash Market, candy and ice cream from Granite State Candy Shoppe and products from Apple Hill Farm, just to name a few.
“It’s outstanding, because we support each other and we advocate for each other in our neighborhood,” Bob Hill, owner of the Korner Kupboard said. “We really are a neighborhood store. We’re not a tourist store – people don’t just walk by North State Street. But our neighbors and a lot of local Concord people really support us because we support other local businesses.”
It’s difficult competing with the ubiquitous likes of Circle K, Cumberland Farms and Hess, but Hill has proven it’s nothing a playfully misspelled name and artfully selected inventory can’t fix. The Korner Kupboard receives fresh meat from Quality Cash Market and fresh sandwiches from Donatello’s every day while also offering Craquelins, a seasoned flat-bread cracker, from Good Breads on North State Street, and beers brewed in Henniker, Hooksett and North Conway.
Hill’s store offers candy and ice cream from Granite State Candy Shoppe, produce, jams, jellies and pancake mixes from Apple Hill Farm, apple cider donuts from the Chichester Country Store, salsa and chips from Mitchell’s in Bow, wine from Coffin Cellars Wine in Webster and bacon, cheese and dog treats from Fox Smokehouse in Canterbury.
There’s also maple syrup from Rossview Farm and fresh eggs from a farm on Hutchins Street in Concord, milk from the Contoocook Creamery and popcorn from White Mountain Kettle Corn in Henniker.
It’s a simple philosophy – how do all these small local stores compete with the big boys? By joining forces and becoming a big boy themselves. Hill works closely with Tony Heath, owner of Quality Cash Market, and John Cimikoski, owner of Cimo’s South End Deli, acting as partners instead of rivals. The stores share products and advice in trying to build strong community connections.
“We are the local stores around here,” Heath said. “We take care of the customers everywhere. This is an old-fashioned meat market and village store. When customers come in here, they’re very comfortable, very happy to be here, and they’re not afraid to ask for something. That’s why we’re here.”
The partnership has a special meaning for Heath and the Quality Cash Market, which used to be on Rumford Street, right around the korner (!) from Hill’s operation. The market moved to East Concord 15 years ago, but Hill’s business allows Heath to stay in touch with customers who have been loyal for decades.
“It’s my old neighborhood, so I wanted to put our meats there because my old neighborhood customers would be able to get to it,” Heath said. “It makes it much more convenient for people. They are very happy, and we’re happy. It worked out great.”
As recently as two years ago, “great” would not have been a word Hill would use to describe his store’s situation. At that time he was a landlord and not a business owner, and he was watching his investment crumble under a storm of construction dust. The road work on North State Street had slowed business to the speed of the cars limping by outside, and the operators of the store were struggling to survive.
Having faced a similar situation less than seven years earlier when a young couple failed to get the business off the ground, Hill and his family jumped in.
“Twice it was close to closing down, and we got back involved to protect our investment,” Hill said. “I’m 65 years old and I already ran a business; I wasn’t excited about getting back in the convenience store business. But at the same time I have an investment in the store and in the community, and we weren’t going to let that just dry up and go away.”
So he dove in headfirst, turning his family into his workforce. Hill and his wife, Gerri, run the operation with plenty of help from their son, Jeff, and long-time friend Janet Leavitt. Hill’s sister and nephew and a neighbor also work at the store part-time.
The local approach – both in staff and in the products offered – is beginning to pay pidends. Though the hole to dig out of was deep, sales in the store have doubled in the last year.
But Hill sees a lot more than dollars and cents when looking at the business. He’s a Concord native – he was named Citizen of the Year in 1997 – who first walked into the building when he was five years old and it was known as Flynn’s Market. He has fond memories of the local operation and has done his best to bring that flavor back to the Korner Kupboard.
“The Korner Kupboard is going to exist, even if we move on,” Hill said. “If and when we pass it on, we want to keep it local. That’s what it needs to be. Those kinds of places are dying. It takes a lot of commitment, but it’s really important to have local businesses. You look at us and Cimo’s and South Street Market and Quality Cash, we’re all open 100 hours a week (with small staffs). We’re all Concord, and people that come in either know us or know of us or know people we know, and that makes a big difference.”
