The Petite Rivière General Store has reopened after a fire gutted it last fall.
Co-owner Peter MacNeil says there was never a question they would rebuild.
“We were well into rebuilding when the pandemic hit and that wasn’t going to stop us,” he said.
He, along with his wife Tanya Shaw, brother John MacNeil and sister-in-law Catherine Anne MacNeil, bought the store in Petite Rivière in June 2014.
Things were going well until last September when Hurricane Dorian hit. MacNeil says the store was closed but they had left a generator running.
“It exploded starting a fire, and the store was a complete loss. We had to tear it down.”
While the store was being rebuilt a 12 X 40 foot trailer was brought in to serve as a temporary store.
MacNeil says the original store dates back to the 1920’s and was added on to at least three times, so it was essentially built in pieces. To respect that history, the new store has been built all on one level and they were careful to keep the exterior of the store as similar to the old store as possible.
He says that the store is extremely important to people in the area because it carries a little of everything-alcohol, camping supplies, toys, groceries, gifts, gas and hardware to name a few.
“It means not having to drive into town to shop, they can get anything they need here.”
