An Ode to the Saturna General Store

When done right, a General Store is a thing of beauty — and Saturna‘s General Store is one of the best illustrations of a rural outpost and supply. As equal parts grocer, wine boutique, post office, and cafe, it stands as the heart of the community.

An island hub, the General Store hosts Saturna’s Saturday market in the parking lot, and organises regular wine tastings hosted by resident expert Shane. If you catch it at the right time of year, you could even stumble onto a delicacy known as “nettlekopita,” a pastry using locally foraged stinging nettles made on site at the Cafe. The general store promises friendly faces behind the counter, local produce, baked goodies, and a good cup of coffee.

The current iteration of the Saturna Store and Cafe has been carefully nurtured by owners Priscilla Ewbank, and her husband, the late Jon Guy. Together with current manager Raeanne House, they keep the island community well fed, stocked, and most importantly, connected. 

City folk may call a store like this charming, but for Saturna, it’s a necessity to island life. It’s continuing to uphold the tradition of the General Store in all-places rural and remote across Canada.

According to R.B. Fleming, writing for Canada’s History, the idea of a true ‘general’ shop took hold in the 1830s throughout Upper Canada’s agricultural communities. Often just a single room in a merchant’s house, it was always crammed from floor to rafter with any manner of goods that weren’t otherwise available locally. 

These stores were a lifeline for more than just foodstuffs, with the storekeeper providing services ranging from postmaster to fire marshal to therapist to telephone operator. And because these merchants served such small communities, where everyone knew your name (and likely your father’s and grandfather’s too), it wasn’t uncommon to pay for goods and services with trades or IOUs instead of cold hard cash.

This idea is romanticised by many of us as we find ourselves living in busier and busier places. Very likely, if you grew up in the city, or even a small town, you likely never experienced the allure of a trip to the store as a kid. 

As Fleming explained, “The golden age of general stores, roughly the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, gradually ended with the motor car, catalogue shopping, and community splintering as well as with the rise of urban department and specialty stores.”

I grew up in a tiny rural community in New Brunswick called Burtt’s Corner. A far cry from the Gulf Islands, it was still remarkably similar in how it operated around the local store. Our store growing up was a purveyor of all necessary things — groceries, gas, grub, and gossip. It was open seven days a week, and its very existence meant you could “run down to the corner” instead of making the trek into town. 

My own memories make me deeply appreciate the connective and warm space that Saturna’s General Store has created. It’s not just supplies, nor is it just a post office or cafe. It serves, whether knowingly or not, as the lynchpin of a small Gulf Island community. Without it, would Saturna be what it is today?

Alongside others (shout out to Pender‘s Southridge Farms Country Store), The Saturna General Store keeps long-time rural traditions of self-sufficiency and community support alive and well in the Southern Gulf Islands.

Written by Jessica McKeil