When the Middletown Country Store opened on April 24, 1985, it immediately became a popular place to go for residents in the Middletown area and Montgomery County.

But at 2 p.m. on May 2, the store will close after 41 years of business as owner Terri Thomas has decided to retire. She was part of a four-person staff that worked at the store’s first year.

“The business slowed down,” Thomas said. “I love them all in this town, but it’s too much for me to try to get it all. I’m going to be 71. I got one more (child) left in high school and I want to go watch her play volleyball. It’s hard to get away when you have your own business.”

Middletown Country Store has been housed at 108 Main Street in Middletown all 41 years. It sells personal items, household items, grocery and meat sandwiches. The store also serves breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday.

“We don’t have a regular menu,” said Thomas, who has two employees in her store. “It’s just the one special for lunchtime. The only thing that’s regular is the fried chicken, which is every other Wednesday. Any other time, it’s just whatever we decide to cook.”

Thomas said the food is the store’s main attraction.

“If it wasn’t for the guys and everybody who wanted to come in and eat, I probably would have been gone a long time ago,” she said. “Everybody likes our food. That keeps us busy all week.”

The store is currently holding its 41st anniversary sale that will end on April 18. It has specials on meat, soda, ice cream and other groceries. From April 19 until the last day, the store will sell all of its items at half price.

The Middletown Country Store was a family-owned business that included Thomas, her husband Keith and parents-in-law Fern and Lindell Thomas. The store was open from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. When the shop was first opened, ham was sold for $1.29 a pound and eggs were sold for 49 cents a dozen.

“It was more of Keith’s mom’s (Fern) dream that got it started,” said Terri Thomas, who is originally from Wellsville. “It (the building) was closed for five or six months. She hated to see it close. She opened it with Keith and I and her husband (Lindell). We all put it together. She did most of the work at first because I had the two little ones. I was down here helping. She did most of it until she passed away, then I got to do everything.”

Thomas said stiff competition from other stores was one of the reasons she decided to close the business.
“It’s hard to compete with all of the Wal-Marts and the dollar stores,” she said. “They all get everything cheaper than I can get here. I know most of them hate it. I said, ‘Well, I got to do what I got to do, too. I’ve been here long enough and helping everybody out in town.’”

Currently, the store is open from 6 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 6 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday. Besides Thomas, the store’s other employees are Beth Ohmes and Samantha Winter.