Li'l General
Owner: Lisa and Mike Pestana
Li'l General might bill itself as a convenience store, but it's certainly more than your average 7-Eleven. The 2500 square foot North Smithfield outpost of the five-store chain packs a punch with a deli, a butcher, some seafood, a little produce case, prepared foods, baked goods, and groceries alongside the regular convenience store fare.
Each section is, of course, quite small, but they actually run a one-page circular advertising, the week I wrote this, scallops, sliced ham and liverwurst, steak and chicken, tortellini salad, and beef roast. Can't say I've ever seen most of those things at other convenience stores.
I found this place absolutely fascinating. And it was a delightful little store! By no means a supermarket, but way more to choose from than other similar stores, and we're not exactly out in the country here, not quite two miles outside of the city of Woonsocket.
You can see here, too, that the grocery aisles (of which I believe there are three) have more grocery-type items than snacks you'd find in your average 7-Eleven or Circle K (or, for the New Englanders among us, Cumberland Farms).
Owner: Lisa and Mike Pestana
Opened: unknown
Cooperative: none
Location: 659 Great Rd, North Smithfield, RI
Location: 659 Great Rd, North Smithfield, RI
Photographed: September 4, 2021
That's all, I just thought it would be fun to show an example of a very different store. I mentioned Dave's in yesterday's post, and tomorrow we're off to check out a Dave's location not far from here!
This reminds me of a store in the Rotterdam, NY area (just outside Schenectady) that goes by the name of Gabriels.
ReplyDeleteThey are not listed as a convenience store, and are actually under IGA, but the setup is quite similar - small 3 (maybe 4) aisles, the ad (theirs posted is 2 pages) focused only on the fresh items (not the grocery items), and just looking at your photos, the interior setup is quite familiar.
https://www.gabfoods.com/
(Note - this one has a second store in Scotia (the other side of Schenectady), but that one, as I remember is a bit larger and resembles most other smaller supermarkets more than it does this setup.