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Ed’s General Store: Letters from Kyiv
Memories from Cape May Point, NJ
Life takes you places and leaves you with memories. Lately, I have been remembering Ed’s General Store in Cape May Point. Well, not so much because it was the only commercial establishment in that village but because of the family that owned it. That family made that store have a certain feel, a personality, a soul of its own. It has never been the same since they sold it in 1977. There was a time in America when most businesses were privately owned as opposed to the corporate chain and private equity monstrosities that exist today. Cape May Point’s General Store is still privately held as far as I know but will it ever be as good as it was when Ed and his family owned it? I won’t be able to tell you because I don’t live in Cape May Point nor do I spend my summers there anymore.
What I can tell you is that from 1969 through 1977, it was the best “General Store” I ever had the pleasure of knowing and spending my hard-earned lawn-mowing cash. The real reason was because of Ed, not because of what he sold although that might not be entirely true. Sure, his wife and daughter were fixtures in the store. Ed was that old school proprietor. You know the ones that make you keep coming back because of their particular level of service, quirks or personality. Now the full truth is that we didn’t have much choice since Ed’s General…
