Jenny and Denise Wells are homesick.
The sisters haven’t been back to their hometown in Germany since they moved to the U.S. and opened The Olde Country Store and More-1849 at 2 University Ave. in North Cohocton almost 11 years ago.
As owners, Jenny and Denise continued the store’s reputation for bulk candy − an entire wall is filled with 189 bins of candy.
There’s also locally made maple syrup and sauces, River Rats cheese and old fashion sodas like birch beer, sarsaparilla and root beer, all available in glass bottles.
And the Wells sisters brought German flavoring to the business, with one corner of the store devoted to products inspired by the Fatherland.
On the store’s second floor, vendors offer gift items, arts and crafts, jewelry, blankets, quilts and other hard to find items.
The store attracts locals, residents from nearby communities, tourists to the region and former residents who feel like they must make a pilgrimage to the store they grew up with when they come back to town.
“It has been around for so long it’s a big part of this community,” Denise Wells said. “It has always been a store so everyone who grew up here has known it as a store all of their lives.”
Wells sisters, dad reopened dormant store on Fourth of July, 2015
Jenny, 44, and Denise, 40, were born and came of age in Germany, daughters of U.S. Army serviceman Jeff Wells of Naples, New York and his German-born wife, Claudia.
Their hometown is Mainz, the largest city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate Land. Located in west-central Germany on the Rhine River, Mainz has a population of about 220,000. It’s about 25 miles southwest of Frankfurt.
When Jenny and Denise were growing up, their family took regular vacations to New York state, visiting dad’s hometown and hanging out in nearby Wayland, where their grandparents lived on a farm.
Whenever Jenny and Denise visited their grandparents, they were sure to stop at the general store that had stood at the town’s crossroads since 1849, a date the Wells sisters incorporated into the store’s name when they took over.
After the original store burned down, the present day structure was built in 1873.
The previous general store was known for its bulk candy, which was a big favorite of the two German grandkids when they visited the area.
Family members had other store favorites.
“There used to be an ice cream window out back and our grandpa loved the ice cream,” Jenny Wells said. “We would come here at least once or twice every vacation. And our mom loved to shop the gifts (section) of the store.”
Following the death of Claudia Wells in 2012, the surviving family members began making plans for a move to Naples and a fresh start in the U.S.
The store closed in 2008 and it sat dormant for seven years, until Jenny, Denise and Jeff made the permanent move to New York in 2015.
Buying the store that meant so much to them as children was not something the sisters had necessarily envisioned, but it turned out it was meant to be.
“It was very unexpected. We had some other plans that didn’t work out but the store was still for sale so we went for it,” Denise Wells said.
The family bought the store in June 2015 and it opened on July 4, 2015.
Dad, Jeff Wells, is retired.
“It’s our childhood and a piece of our family history. We still can’t believe at times that we have been running it for almost 11 years,” Jenny Wells said. “That is why from the beginning we said we would try as hard as possible to find someone to buy it turnkey so it will go on.”
Pending sale, Olde Country Store’s last day is Aug. 31
After more than a decade in the Southern Tier of New York, Jenny and Denise have put the business on the market.
The reason is not complicated but the decision was not an easy one to make.
“We are homesick for Germany, and the time has come for us to go home – but leaving this store and the people who supported us is genuinely hard,” the sisters said in a press release announcing the sale.
Jenny and Denise created a closing timeline about a month ago, knowing it would at least put an end date in place.
Now the clock is running. The store will continue operating as normal through Aug. 31, 2026.
A buyer who acts before then will step into a full turnkey operation – getting the building, inventory and stock, equipment, fixtures and a loyal customer base that has grown to appreciate the store’s German chocolate bars, mustard, curry ketchup, jams and German sausage Jenny and Denise acquire from a butcher in New York City.
The store has a fully licensed kitchen and the current owners will hand over vendor and supplier lists. Jenny and Denise said they are willing to stick around for a couple of weeks to help with the ownership transition.
If no buyer is secured by Sept. 1, a going out of business sale will begin, with stock and equipment sold off individually. Once that process starts, the opportunity to buy it as a turnkey business is gone for good.
“We came to the U.S. with nothing but hope, and this community gave us so much more than we ever expected,” the Wells sisters said in the sales announcement.
“We hope to find someone who will walk through these doors and feel what we felt in 2015: that this place is something worth fighting for.”
The store is open four days a week, Wednesday through Sunday.
For sales information, individuals are invited to stop by, email info@ocs1849.com or call 585-543-5747.
Email Neal Simon at nsimon@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Sisters selling Cohocton Olde Country Store. Here’s why, what’s next
Reporting by Neal Simon, Hornell Evening Tribune / The Evening Tribune
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