Charles Gauvin said the community has been worse off since the New Gloucester Village Store closed — so he loaned the owner $50,000.

Store owner Sam Coggeshall praised the response of the community, who helped support the Village Store by providing the nearly $250,000 necessary to renovate the store.

Multiple residents from Gray and New Gloucester gave the store loans out of their own funds. It received low-interest loans in amounts of $10,000-$50,000, and ran a campaign where people were able to buy store credits and get 120% value on what they put in, which will be distributed to them in the form of gift cards when the store opens.

It’s remarkable how much people “put themselves” into the reopening effort, Coggeshall said.

Coggeshall had adjusted his business plan to a new reality, Gauvin said, and he knew what sells well and doesn’t sell as well, particularly praising his movement towards “grab-and-go” food.

Another resident of New Gloucester, who wished to remain anonymous, was one of the first people to invest in Coggeshall’s iteration of the Village Store, and has been a consistent force in helping it stay afloat over the past two decades. In addition to a $25,000 loan ahead of the second reopening, the resident previously loaned the store $25,000 when it first opened in 2008, and again in 2013 as it was undergoing renovations.

The resident recalled how the Village Store in its heyday was the center of the New Gloucester community, and said residents have been longing for the return of a place to hang out, meet people, or just grab a quick dinner and some groceries.

Another anonymous resident, who loaned Coggeshall $50,000, said he lives 1.5 miles from the store and viewed it not just as a convenient place to get food but also as the heart of the community, and a great place for residents to get together.

Coggeshall initially bought the store in 2008. At the time, the store had been closed for nearly a decade, leaving the village without a “center point,” he said.

Realizing the store was the most essential element of the village, Coggeshall found several people willing to invest, and ran it successfully for more than a decade.

During the 2010s, the store was not only a centerpiece of the community, but also part of the “First Saturday” events at the beginning of each month, which included the monthly opening of the historical society’s “history barn” in the morning, as well as a musical food truck event from Norumbega Cidery, an evening wine tasting at the Village Store, and a concert at First Congregational Church. The event stopped after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic also led to the store’s second closure as, in 2022, the store chose to suspend operation.

Four years later, the store is preparing to reopen better than ever. While Coggeshall and his team have done extensive structural renovations to the 135-year-old building in the 18 years they have owned it, for the second reopening, the team is focused on remaking the aesthetic of the old store. The team is also making commercial upgrades to make the store into an institution that holds historical value yet has the necessary infrastructure for a food service business. One such update is a rework of the cooling system, which Coggeshall said will help it last for decades.

The Village Store is planning to reopen by the end of the month. No major events are planned. When it reopens, it will be in the form of an online announcement and an “open” flag going up.

“We’ll build up to the business that we want to be before we start really trying to promote ourselves as the business that everyone should come see because it’s grand,” said Coggeshall.