Bowdoinham Country Store is shuttered for the time being while its current owner Sam Hilling shops around for potential buyers for the town’s community hub. Paul Bagnall/The Times Record

Bowdoinham residents received sad news at the beginning of December when the current owner of the Bowdoinham Country Store announced its closure. For some residents, the store served as a community hub.

Closing the store came as a difficult decision for Sam Hilling, who also runs the Three Robbers Pub just down the street.

Hilling said there is a potential buyer for the Country Store, a Bowdoinham local. Hilling declined to reveal the names of the potential buyer, but said he expects the store to change hands by next month. Around three offers were made to buy the store during the second week of December. However, Hilling is waiting to see whether the Bowdoinham resident’s loan will receive approval for the purchase from the bank.

Hilling said someone needs to be present at the Country Store at all times and is confident the potential buyer will be a good fit for it should the sale clear. The Country Store has changed ownership three to four times within the last five years. Every owner has faced the same problem of not having enough business in a small town to keep it going.

“I think it is an outdated system that we have here,” Hilling said. “I mean, you can’t really have a grocery store, I don’t think, in a small town anymore.”

Hilling noted that he was having trouble competing with larger grocery store chains, such as the Market Basket that opened in Topsham this year and other chains like Hannaford and Shaw’s in surrounding towns. He acquired the store two years ago in December, and his biggest challenge was getting enough staff to work there.

The Country Store’s liquor and food licenses were up for renewal, and managing the small store and the Three Robbers Pub became too much for Hilling. After running the Country Store at a loss for two years, he is focusing on running the restaurant in the center of Bowdoinham.

“The store acts as a real hub for so many people, and it’s like a community center of sorts,” said Bowdoinham resident Craig Donnan, adding that people who frequented the store could tell the inventory was slowly declining.

Hilling told his employees about the potential of the Country Store’s closure two months ago. Hilling and his previous employees tried a few things, like changing the week’s hours to be open on busier days and reducing staff shifts, but it didn’t work. Despite having 12 employees, not enough people were working at the store.

“I have a lot of construction people that come in here, and they just can’t find help, either,” Hilling said. “Then when you do find help, you have to overpay them just to keep them.”

Bowdoinham resident Joh Boucher said he was disappointed that the Country Store closed, but he expected it to happen given its recent stock. Boucher hopes that if the sale goes through, the people who lost their jobs can return to the store, and that there will be an expanded menu and more stocked shelves.

Boucher’s wife, Gail, used to work at the Country Store, and Boucher used to go down to the store for things he would forget from bigger grocery trips.

“(The Country Store) will be missed a lot, especially for the locals,” Boucher said.