Old Furnace General Store — Local services in Hardwick

After years of multiple owners and sitting unoccupied again for years, I visited the Old Furnace General Store in Hardwick today on my way to the Hardwick Co-op. It’s located at 1839 Lower Rd (Rte 32).

Fun fact: Old Furnace was significant at the time of the American Revolution, as a location that manufactured cannon balls.

The OFGS was reopened less than 6 months ago, has a license to sell beer and hard liquor with an impressive assortment of such for a small footprint, an assortment of delicious pastries ( I tried the carrot cake whoopee pie and a brownie, both outstanding), has excellent coffee and an assortment of sandwiches delivered daily around 10:30 AM. I met the new owners, Amber and Jeremy, truly nice people who are thrilled to bring the store back to life, and passionate about their venture.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how well stocked the store was with food and sundries.

It is no secret that I love seeing local businesses succeed. The coffee and pastries were an excellent value. I did not see prices on the beer and wine. The is plenty of parking and a couple of picnic table under an awning to eat at outside.

Please take the time to stop by and sample what Old Furnace has to offer. You will be surprised and delighted by what you find.

They will begin selling ice cream and...

This store has recently reopened by new owners after being closed for years. I have visited a few times since they've reopened & it is a nice little store, featuring kind & friendly staff, but definitely not the same as it once was. They do carry some locally made items, like they used to do, when it was previously opened & there are a few similarities, but if you're expecting an overflow of nostalgia, you most likely won't feel it, or get too sentimental, as it's definitely much different. They now sell lottery, alcohol, bakery items, fresh bread, cold beverages, snacks, hot coffee, & a few other things. I would love to have the alpacas back, but I don't think that's in their plans...although I did hear that the new owners may be keeping the (seasonal) ice cream window opened for customers to enjoy during the warmer months. Still large parking lot available that's also handicapped accessible, with on site 🏧 as well & easy to...

While definitely not as spacious as most snack shops, space doesn’t matter an ounce when the atmosphere, service and food are unmatched. It sits close to where I live, making it very convenient and even able to walk to it, a less than 5 minute endeavor. The main perk of it being a local, non chain business is that you’re able to directly talk to the owners, who also act as employees, and make special requests. For example, I asked for them to start stocking Arizona sweet tea, and a week later they had about 20 of them in stock, despite the fact that nearly nobody else drank the thing, I was enough of a regular shopper for them to keep...