Three months ago, Middletown Country Store was closed after 41 years of business.

Then, Michael and Larna Fidler came to the rescue.

The Middletown couple bought the store from an auction on May 9, just one week after it was closed. Now, they are making plans to reopen the business that will include a restaurant and some cooking classes. It will be named the Middletown Country Store and Restaurant.

“This is something that we can make a go of and the community will support because we are local,” Larna said. “It will be the right thing. People will support it and come back. It will be a good thing for the community. That’s really why we did it. We have so many other things we can do. We have little kids keeping us busy, other businesses and a farm, but we can help the community in some way. That’s our goal.”

The Fidlers lived in Middletown all of their lives. Michael grew up near Middletown Country Store, while Larna grew up on a farm three miles from the shop. Michael and Larna graduated from Wellsville-Middletown High School in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

The Fidlers have been owners of an agronomy business called Amp’d Up Ag since 2020. They also have two young boys.

Michael said he and his wife are thrilled to own another business.

“I’m excited that we’re giving back to the community,” he said. “Everybody is excited, stopping in and asking when it’s going to be open.”

The Fidlers started a social media page of their store in August. Larna has been providing video updates of the business.

“That’s not my favorite part because it takes me away from my kids,” Larna said. “But I think seeing the excitement from people is good. I don’t love doing social media. I did it for three years straight with our other business and we grew it a lot. But I’d rather spend time with my kids and my family.”

Middletown Country Store closed on May 2 after its last owner, Terri Thomas, decided to retire. It is known for selling personal items, household items, grocery and meat sandwiches and serving breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday.

The Fidlers were frequent patrons at the store, which is located at 108 Main Street.

“We shopped here our whole life,” Larna said. “We always shopped here. It’s a special place. There are a lot of memories.”

Larna said she and Michael have been getting advice from Thomas since they bought the store three months ago.

“I think she’s very supportive of us and she’s being so kind in helping us,” Thomas said. “She sat down with us, helped us figure out suppliers and helped us figure out who to contact and all different things.”

The Fidlers bought the store for $27,500 at an auction. Larna said she was surprised when she found out that she and her husband became the store’s new owners.

“We need this store in Middletown,” she said. “But at the time, we didn’t think that God was calling us to buy it. We really didn’t think that was what we were supposed to do. It’s interesting. Our baby came early at 32 weeks. Michael and our son were ready to get out of the house. He said, ‘I’m going to go down to see what the auction is going to do and see who buys it.’ He started texting me and said, ‘I have the bid.’”

The store is still under renovation. There is no timetable on when it will reopen. Larna said she and her husband have everything done in the building except the kitchen part.

“Originally, we thought August 1 (as the store’s reopening), but that didn’t come together,” she said. “When you renovate a 100-year-old building, you run into a few things. We also have our other businesses that we have to keep running. We’re traveling for those. We’re working on those as much as we can. Michael and I are doing all of the work ourselves with a little bit of help from friends.”

The Fidlers plan to hold classes of canning, Christmas cooking, sourdough and pie dough making whenever the store reopens.

“Michael said he wants people to come here and have a memory and have an experience,” Larna said.