HINKLEVILLE – The General Store in Hinkleville has officially reopened as The George’s General Store Jan. 1.
The owner of The George’s General Store, Harmon George, said he had several reasons for purchasing the store.
“There’s a couple different reasons and depends if you want to go from a religious standpoint or from a financial standpoint,” George said. “From the religious standpoint, I believe God was telling me to do it, and from a financial standpoint, I have rentals and rentals are very hard. I still make money, but it’s very hard so I decided to move in a better direction, and I thought about it and I thought God was telling me to move in this direction.”
He also said the previous owner of the General Store was one of his best friends.
“He was the best man at my wedding, and we talked a lot of business,” George said. “I did a lot of work in this building with the heating and air conditioning system, the walk-in cooler, and I worked on all the deli cases and the computer system and the camera system. I worked on all this stuff for him because he was my friend.”
The store will offer deli meat they will slice in-house, meats and cheeses, subs, pizza and hot dogs. George also said he is interested in doing homemade specials and hopes to have alcohol available for purchase next week.
“It’s a little bit hectic, and it’s a steep learning curve but I enjoy it,” George said. “It’s more of a family thing. My mother is helping, my wife helps, and we’ve even had our kids in here through the entire process because I’ve been cleaning and working on the place for two years.”
The gas pumps are also up and running again.
“I’ve had that since the Thursday before last and literally an hour after I had my tanks filled and my dispensers calibrated, people started pulling up and start getting gas with no open sign,” George said.
The store is open Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and closed on Sunday.
“It’s been absolutely great, and the reaction has been very positive,” George said. “If it’s not every person, it’s every other person talking about how much they missed it how they’re glad the store is here and they’re going to support me because it’s that sorely missed.”
George said he is currently taking applications for staff positions, but he may not hire for some time while he gets everything up and running.
