(Not So) General Stores: Calef’s Country Store

What makes a general store more than a place to buy pantry items and run into the neighbor down the street? It’s a family-centric quality; it’s an “everyone is welcome here, browse-at-will” vibe; it offers feelings of warm nostalgia while placing a strong emphasis on serving the local community. We feature eight stores on the following pages that celebrate that feeling of community and nostalgia in just the right amounts.

Read more about some of NH’s (not so) general stores:

Harrisville Country Store- Harrisville

Ira Miller’s General Store – Milton Mills

Zeb’s General Store – North Conway

Newfields General Store – Newfields

The Robie Store – Hooksett

Old Country Store and Museum – Moultonborough

Mont Vernon General Store – Mont Vernon

Since 1869, Calef’s Country Store has been vital to the Barrington community. In the 160 years since its opening, Calef’s has undergone many changes, but the commitment to their local community has always remained the same. 

“It’s gone through many, many iterations in what it’s sold over the years,” said Calef’s co-owner Greg Bolton. “It’s really been the center of Barrington that whole time. We used to sell tires, cars, hardware, local produce and stuff out of a Sears catalog. At one point, the town’s post office was there, and the town Grange Hall was in the space above us. It’s really played a pivotal role in the town of Barrington for 160 years.”

For five generations, the Calef family owned and operated the store, beginning with its founder, Mary Chelsey Calef, who opened the store in the front rooms of her Barrington home. One of the first female- owned businesses in the Granite State, Calef’s was purchased by Bolton and his fellow co-owner Len Angelo in 2012, making them the second nonfamily owners and operators of the store. 

“The history and nostalgia really appealed to us,” Bolton said. “The continuity of a business (like Calef’s) really only exists in New England.” 

Watching that legacy grow and continue firsthand has been incredible for Bolton to witness. His greatest joy is when he sees customers who grew up visiting the store bring their children and their grandchildren in, or when visitors who haven’t been home to New Hampshire for years stop in and are hit with a sense of nostalgia, because the store looks the same as it did when they left.

“The types of stories we get almost daily from customers are really heartwarming,” Bolton said. “We’ve been able to maintain a piece of history for (customers) that when they walk in the door, they feel young again because it’s a familiar place. It looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. That makes me feel good when that happens.”

Bolton attributes Calef’s generational vibrancy to its location at the intersection of 125 and Route 4.

“A lot of small towns like Barrington have seen a bypass built around them,” Bolton said. “The town center sort of dies — we’ve been fortunate enough that both of these roads are still heavily traveled.”

Bolton believes that another reason is because Calef’s is very much a time capsule for the town. He frequently has customers ask him where different antiques that are on display in the store came from, or customers will bring in antiques from their family’s homes.

“There are a couple of renderings of the store that people have brought in,” Bolton said. “One is a stained-glass model of the store that somebody built and gave us just because they thought it was such a cool place.”

“The local community sustains what we do,” Bolton said. “That’s the true essence of a New England country general store — it’s vibrant for the locals.”

Customers flock to Calef’s around the holiday season for their famous smoked hams, but Bolton says that some products that he sees customers come back for again and again are their cheddar cheese and gingersnap cookies. The cheddar is an absolute can’t miss item.

“We sell thousands and thousands of pounds of (cheese) a year,” Bolton said. “It’s kind of crazy how much we sell.”

Along with cheese, Calef’s also offers an extensive selection of baked goods, pickles in a barrel, molasses and local honey (that are jarred in-house) and true by-the-piece penny candy.

“Most stores have gone to the by-the-pound method, but by-the-piece is, I think, more genuine,” Bolton said. “It’s more work for our cashiers because they have to count it and add it up, but it’s a cool, nostalgic thing.”

For first-time visitors and frequent flyers, Bolton recommends not rushing your way through the store. 

“Don’t be in a hurry, because there’s a lot to see,” he said. “Take your time, walk around, ask questions and poke around — you’re going to find some really fun stuff.”

The majority of items sold at Calef’s are locally sourced — if they can avoid it, they won’t source items for the store from outside New England.

“We’re a good place for small local entrepreneurs to bring their (items) in to sell, and consequently it’s a good place for customers to find unique cottage industry (things),” Bolton said. 

606 Franklin Pierce Hwy, Barrington, calefs.com