How High Tech Saved the Cherished Lincoln General Store

The Lincoln General Store Credit: Melissa Pasanen ©️ Seven Days

The typical Vermont country store exemplifies high touch, low tech, and the 181-year-old Lincoln General Store is no exception.

In early October, its weathered red door bore a hand-drawn sign for this season’s rifle buck pool. Generations of footsteps have buffed all traces of stain and polish from the long, narrow floorboards. “Ninety percent of our customers, I know their names and their story,” store general manager Jennifer Smith said.

Smith, 57, has spent more than half her life in the Addison County town of 1,300. Nestled at the foot of Mount Abraham, Lincoln sees a steady flow of cyclists, hikers and leaf peepers until the Lincoln Gap Road closes from mid-October to May and locals have the town to themselves again.

The store doesn’t use a barcode scanner to ring up orders of locally baked bread, cases of Bud Light, deli sandwiches and house-baked sweets, such as addictive salted-caramel shortbread bars. Out-of-towners, Smith said, are always amazed that regulars can grab a gallon of Monument Farms milk on credit and pay at month’s end.

Vaneasa Stearns and Katie Clark Credit: Courtesy

While AI gobbles up our personal data for nefarious purposes, the humans who work at the Lincoln store use their intelligence to offer new-baby congratulations, check on someone’s health or deliver birthday wishes — all witnessed during a recent visit. But for all its low-tech bona fides, the Lincoln General Store owes its continued existence to the success of one of Vermont’s most prominent high-tech companies: South Burlington-based Beta Technologies, one of the country’s leading developers of electric aircraft.

In 2023, Lincoln was at risk of losing what resident Karen Swanson called “the nerve center of the town.” After more than 30 years of selling groceries, weighing in deer and even pulling out wiggly teeth that kids didn’t trust their parents to remove, the store’s beloved owner and storekeeper, Vaneasa Stearns, reluctantly decided to sell due to her declining health.

The quest to save the small-town general store has become increasingly common in Vermont; reasons include increased competition from chains such as Dollar General, staffing challenges and the skyrocketing cost of maintaining old buildings. The most recent announcements of potential closures have come from Buxton’s Store in Orwell and Bliss Village Store and Deli in Bradford.

Concerned about the future of their cherished market, a group of Lincoln residents approached Preservation Trust of Vermont, which has helped a number of towns in similar situations. The nonprofit works with locals to develop and raise funds for a community ownership model. But that process takes time, and Stearns, 59, who has a progressive muscle disease called myofibrillar myopathy, did not have time.

Stearns “gave the general store heart and that extended into the community,” Katie Clark wrote in an email. She and her husband, Kyle, the founder of Beta Technologies, moved their family of six into a $3.5 million Lincoln home three years ago.

“The store was one of the reasons we decided to move here,” Katie wrote. “It’s the place you go to see your neighbors, hear the latest town news … For us, it created an immediate sense of community.”

When the Clarks learned that the grassroots effort would take too long for Stearns, they offered to purchase the business, building and inventory. Katie noted that buying the store felt doable only because longtime staff agreed to stay on, and Smith, who had worked there in the past, was willing to return and become the general manager. Stearns gratefully accepted the Clarks’ offer.

“This is them putting their money where their mouth is,” Stearns said. “They believe in general stores.”

Reed Prescott making Harvest Wraps Credit: Melissa Pasanen ©️ Seven Days

According to town property records, the building sold in January for $300,000. Katie declined to share the total figure invested by the couple and their friends Marna and Chuck Davis, philanthropists with Vermont ties. She told Seven Days that they expect to continue investing to maintain and upgrade the 19th-century building.

Smith said the Clarks have been supportive, hands-off bosses, trusting her and the long-standing team to evolve as they see fit to meet the community’s needs. With a smile, she summarized what Kyle told her: “Don’t run out of money, and don’t ruin the vibe.”

The Clarks did propose a seasonal creemee stand in the old icehouse next to the store. It opened in August, followed by a new big-game reporting station with an electrified winch built by a Mount Abraham High School shop class. The store now serves hot breakfast daily and has expanded its inventory of local products to include Misty Knoll Farms chicken and Footprint Farm greens.

But sandwiches and groceries are only part of what the Lincoln General Store provides. In the first week under new ownership, a longtime customer came in. She didn’t buy anything, Smith recalled. She just wanted a hug.

The original print version of this article was headlined “The Store That Tech Saved | Lincoln residents Katie and Kyle Clark of Beta Technologies stepped up to buy their town’s general store”