Wilson’s General Store in Georgetown reopening Nov. 1

Wilson’s General Store outside Georgetown has been a tradition in Sussex County for nearly 80 years. New owners Laura Berberich and Tim Cumpston are looking to keep it that way.

“This place is a tradition,” said Cumpston, during an interview Oct. 24.

Berberich and Cumpston purchased the store in December 2019. They’ve been slowly renovating the space since and will be reopening it Tuesday, Nov. 1.

The building is an old one-room school building that was converted into a store in the 1930s. Marshall Wilson bought the store in 1944. Marshall’s son Jim took the store over in 1970 and ran it for the next 50 years.

Berberich, who works at a hospital in New York, and Cumpston, who works in industrial sales, have been coming to the area from New York for years. They purchased land not too far from the store six years ago. The land they bought had been owned by Jim Wilson’s cousin, so they put a word in, saying they’d been interested in bringing the store back.

“We saw a vision. We were interested in retiring down here and started talking about having something for us to do, and this kept popping up,” said Cumpston. “We want to continue the tradition of the iconic Wilson’s General Store.”

The space looks different and the equipment may be new, but the couple is working with Jim Wilson to learn how to cook menu favorites – especially scrapple for the scrapple, egg and cheese sandwiches. Wilson still lives across the street and stops by every time he sees cars in the parking lot.

“Jim’s going to be over our shoulders to make sure we get things right,” said Berberich, laughing.

The couple is going to focus on breakfast and lunch, carrying the same menu and adding a few more items, said Cumpston.

Berberich said the goal was to keep the interior the same as it was, but when renovations began to bring the building up to current code, it pretty much meant starting over from scratch. There was no bathroom in the building, and new wiring was required. Plumbing and equipment were also installed.

Berberich said the store had been filled with a lot of old things that had accumulated over the decades of business. There was all kinds of interesting inventory that no longer works for today, she said.

“Who knows, maybe one day we’ll put it all out in the parking lot and have a dollar sale,” she said.

Two years into the process, Berberich is just looking forward to getting the store open.

“I just want to turn the open sign on now. I want everything to be perfect on the first day. I know it won’t be, but we’re doing everything we can do,” said Berberich. “There’s a lot of pressure.”

Cumpston said there’s a lot of excitement about reopening the store. It’s what the community needs, he said.

The hours of operation for Wilson’s General Store, 24739 Springfield Road, Georgetown, will be 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. The store is closed Sunday and Monday. The goal is to enjoy retirement a little bit, said Berberich.

For the time being, Berberich said the best way to contact the store is through email at wilsonsgeneralstorede@gmail.com. Telephone and a website will be up and running soon, she said.