STONEVILLE, N.L. — After almost 40 years in business, general store owner Ray Ginn retired on June 4, closing out a chapter on the Stoneville landmark.
“My store was like a real-old fashioned general store,” said Ginn, who took over the family business from his father in 1979. “It was like a guessing game when I was buying things, seeing what might sell.
“The building I had, I needed one twice the size. Perhaps I could have sold more, if I could have displayed more.”
Customer Lisa Hart has been shopping at Ginn’s since she was a child. She says the variety of the merchandise was part of its appeal.
“People would travel from all over just to see his store, he never got rid of anything,” Hart said. “If there was something you were looking for that you couldn’t see it, Ray knew where it was, he could put his hands right on it.
“If he didn’t have it, he would get it and let you know.”
Ginn, 65, will continue his wholesale business, providing merchandise for stores all over the island, but the retail shop has been sold to new owners. Ginn, and his sister Ruth — who ran the retail aspect of the business — are retiring so that Ruth, with Ray’s help, can care for their ailing mother.
Good memories
Hart remembers hanging out at Ginn’s store when she was a teenager,
“We just went to Ray’s, that was our thing on the weekend,” Hart said. “He was wonderful.”
Ginn fondly remembers the weekend hangouts.
“I had the only place in town on Saturday night that was open if they wanted to get a bar or a drink,” Ginn said. “They would come in and hang around for an hour or two, they weren’t bad teens at all. The majority were great.”
While Ginn might attribute his store’s popularity with teens to his store’s schedule, Hart says it was something more.
“He is so comical,” Hart said. “And Ray was the type of man, he would always give compliments. If he didn’t give you a compliment then you knew something was wrong.”
Those Saturday evenings made for great memories for generations of Stoneville youth.
“People who are originally from here, when they come home, they make a point to go down to see Ray,” Hart said. “My sister would come down with her kids and go to see Ray, he would have Caramel Logs (bars) for her.
Special day
“We still go there, to see what he’s got new and on his last day, I was determined to make him feel special,” Hart said. “I made three cakes before I got one that turned out okay.”
Hart and her daughter Chloe brought the cake to Ginn on the store’s closing day.
“My girl is 14, she’s been going (to the store) since she was small,” she said. “We brought the cake up — we made his day.”
Ginn is grateful to his customers over the years, the ones from the community and the ones from far away, but he is also eager for some time off.
“I’m quite pleased to have helped all my customers, especially over the past five years or so,” Ginn said. “But it will be nice to have a vacation after all this time.”
Tulk’s General Store
The new store in Ginn’s former location is called Tulk’s General Store. Ginn hopes the new owners are successful.
“The ones who took it over, I wish them well,” Ginn said. “I know they got rid of the knick-knacks and everything, but they will be keeping the fabric. That’s good, the fabric is what kept me going.”
While Hart wishes Ginn well on his retirement, she will miss the ritual of visiting him at his store.
“He was just one of those people that you take to, one of those people that you are never going to forget,” Hart said, “He is going to be missed. We’ll see him in the community but it’s not going to be the same.”
