Jericho’s 217-year-old general store is losing its post office and gaining a new owner

JERICHO – Continuity has been a hallmark of the Jericho Center Country Store, which claims to be the oldest continuously running general store in Vermont. But with the loss of its longtime post office — coupled with the arrival of a new owner — it’s on the cusp of change.

The St. Amour family, which has owned and operated the store for the last 22 years, sold it last month to Valerie Sodano of Hyde Park, who says she’s planning “a refresh with a little bit more whimsy, but I’m not changing the authenticity of the store.”

Separately, the United States Postal Service recently decided to end its contract with the store, according to Jon St. Amour, who owned the store with his mother and is continuing to help during the transition.

That’s a major loss for some Jericho residents, and the closure will likely cut down on foot traffic, he said.

The Jericho establishment doubled as a contract postal unit at least since 1904, according to the Jericho Historical Society. It was run by store clerks who received a stipend for offering postal services, but weren’t federal employees.

A wall of 135 antique brass mailboxes lines the back. Many neighbors have a box at the store, and local businesses use the facility to ship products. The move leaves more than 80 residents scrambling to figure out whether they want to erect a mailbox at home or get a post box at the post office on Route 15, 3.5 miles away.

“We go to the store almost every day to get the mail,” said resident Terry Hook, who has had a mailbox at the store for 35 years. “And while we’re there, we usually pick up something else — milk, candy, creemees, gasoline — that sort of stuff. So we’ve been part of this community here for quite a long time, and the store has been a part of the community too.”

“A long tradition”

Sue Richardson, vice president of the Jericho Historical Society, said it was common for general stores to have post offices, run by postmasters or store clerks, that acted as cultural hubs.

Hook was dismayed to receive a letter dated June 25 in his little brass mailbox informing him the last date of mail delivery would be July 31. The letter from the Jericho postmaster said it had been “a wonderful partnership.” It urged him to submit a change of address form but did not provide a reason for the decision.

Hook also received a letter from the St. Amours noting that the decision has nothing to do with sale or the new owner. “Despite us fighting and arguing for the merits of keeping PO boxes and mail services here, their decision is final,” they wrote.

In an interview, St. Amour noted that the USPS paid a monthly fee for the boxes. He said that staffing turnover at the main post office led to “constant disruptions” in postal supplies.

“So the store wasn’t able to generate revenue for the USPS because we didn’t have anything to sell or mail for them. We argued this to them to no avail,” he said, adding they even suggested just keeping the mailboxes for customers at a reduced rate.

For many in Jericho, this is “going to change their whole rhythm of life,” Hook said. Friends who have mailboxes in the country store are not going to drive to another part of town to get their mail and, Hook regrets, they are no longer going to bump into them at the post office.

Another aspect is the historical significance. “It’s just sad for those of us who’ve been here a long time to watch pieces of our community disappear,” said Richardson.

“It’s kind of a long tradition to just toss out the window,” Hook said.

He pointed to a similar situation at the Elmore General Store two years ago, where residents and Vermont’s congressional delegation pushed to reverse the USPS’s decision to pull out.

Hook is “guardedly optimistic” there is time to change the decision or reopen the post office in the Jericho country store.

‘Time to pass the torch’

Sodano, the new owner, said she is sad to lose the post office. As she makes plans for the store, she’s pondering alternative uses for the space — she imagines a future wine room there.

She is also planning to give the building a new paint job, undertake some reorganization and make a name change. She wants to eventually expand the coffee and food section of what will now be called the Jericho Country Store with more upscale products, add more gift items and organic wines.

Sodano said she hopes to be a part of the Jericho community and make an impact there. She plans to move into the spacious four-bedroom apartment above the store, where Jon St. Amour lived and raised his family. Her youngest daughter will move in with her and attend middle school in town.

The 40-year-old considers herself an old soul and is no stranger to managing an old business. She bought the Timberholm Inn in Stowe in 2017 – the third oldest ski lodge in town – and ran it for five years.

She sold it and had been looking for a new project when she heard about the country store five days after it was put up for sale.

“I knew I loved working for myself and I love an authentic Vermont experience, which was very much my motto at Timberholm,” she said. So she reached out to the owners and said they “just hit it off.”

She pursued the sale in October and completed it a couple of months ago for about $789,000, Sodano said.

For the previous owners, the timing was right.

Linda and Doug St. Amour bought the store in 2002 for about $272,000, according to land records. Their son Jon St. Amour, 45, said they gutted the place then and added the food section, an ATM and a kombucha fountain. He is tired now and looking forward to a real vacation.

“It was a good run and it’s time to pass the torch,” he said. “It’s emotional, we are sad to go but we are ready.”

On a recent Thursday morning, Kate Blofson stopped by the Jericho Center Country Store to pick up her morning coffee and a jug of milk.

She lives nearby and makes a visit to the iconic wooden building almost every day. “I love everything about it. It is a little pricey but I can get all my staples here,” said Blofson, a beekeeper.

She describes the store as having a “ Jane Jacobsy vibe” with a social system of locals who like to meet and greet there. Many still call it “Dessos” from when Gerry and Lil Desso owned it from the late 1960s to the 1990s.

Step into the quaint building and it’s like a portal to a bygone era.

There’s a map on the wall from 1869, a creemee window to the left, a self-serve coffee bar to the right, glass jars of colorful candy, and a sign for nightcrawler or worm bait. Sundry items dot the shelves and walls – a sign that reads “Sleigh rides 50c,” old radios, an antique green scale, a brown Vermont license plate.

The country store saw a steady stream of customers that Thursday morning. Old or new, they all waxed eloquent about the store and its rural charm.

First time visitor Cyndi Mitchell from Michigan deemed it “adorable.”

Others expressed relief that the store will remain open and maintain local ownership in an era of corporate takeovers.

Outside, a customer filled up a red gas can at one of the store’s two old-fashioned gas pumps.  Inside, folks grabbed coffee and baked goods.

“This store is very important to the community. It’s a landmark. It’s a local hub. And people just love the place, they love coming in here,” said St. Amour, who recently took home a 100-year-old box of embalming fluid he found on the site. “So our goal was to find the right person to come in and kind of carry it on.”

Sodano said she is hoping to keep the current workers – the store employs 17, of which five work full-time. St. Amour said he will continue to help her out “until she gives me the boot.”

The Jericho Center Country Store was founded by Pliny Blackman in 1807 and was called Blackman’s Store. He would travel to Montreal via raft from Winooski on Lake Champlain to collect the goods he sold or bartered — farm supplies, molasses, flour, sugar, rum, according to the website .

It was owned by many over the last two centuries, including the Jordan Brothers – who also ran the postal office there – and the beloved Dessos, who owned it until 1997. They expanded to sell hardware, crafts, toys and clothes. The joke was, if they didn’t carry it, you didn’t need it, the website states.

As St. Amour put it, “It’s not just a store, it’s an experience.”

Read the story on VTDigger here: Jericho’s 217-year-old general store is losing its post office and gaining a new owner .