You know, in the 19th century, there were no large box stores.

The go-to was the local general store, and that was the case for the small community of Danbury 100 years ago, and it still is, thanks to the Priddy family.

[gentle guitar music] - The community came here for everything.

All right, purple sweet potato.

So anything that you would need at your home, whether it be to clean, to eat, to work with, you found it all here.

- [Teresa] And at Priddy's General Store, you still can.

- They do shirts, pottery, canned goods, candy, like old school candies, and you can still get, like, pop in the glass.

- Like I came in today, I needed some onion shoots sets to put out, just about time for that.

- She had these good apple pies, you know?

And the cheese, hoop cheese.

See, you don't hardly ever see this hoop cheese anymore.

- They have a little bit of everything, so I mean, if you need chocolate covered peanuts, or you need overalls, you're covered here, right, so.

- Pretty much anything that your grandmother had, Jane has it.

I mean, it's just everything's in here.

- [Teresa] It's a life and livelihood the Priddy family started back in the 1920s.

Now passed down to the third generation with Jane Priddy Charleville.

- You know, we just try to carry on the traditions here of how it was back in the day, so to speak.

- Well, I love it.

It is like stepping back in time.

- Just the amount of character in here is crazy, and just the way that it looks, you can feel all the history here when you're just walking through it.

- Because it's old.

Because it was something of yesteryear, and it's been here since 1888.

- Yeah, I like this.

See, I'm the old-timey.

I guess old stuff, you know what I mean?

- [Teresa] And that includes everything from toys to boots, candles, automotive supplies, and occasionally music.

- [Jane] We do an event here called Pickin' at Priddy's.

- [Teresa] It happens out back every Saturday in October.

The rest of the year, you can find crafts from nearby artisans.

- Since she started the Pickin' at Priddy's, it was an idea to do the painting of the store.

I've done others where people have parked their cars out in front, and want paintings of the store with their cars, so we've done those.

- Well, we sell a lot of carvings over here.

Jane's just, everything that you kinda see everywhere in the neighborhood, bears, foxes, owls.

All kinds of stuff.

Just all chainsaw, and local wood.

- That's what people want when they come out here, is something they can't find at those big box stores.

That's handmade and local made, and knowing that they're helping to put food on the table for somebody else.

It means something.

- [Teresa] Some are also looking for a place they can connect with people.

- I think it's important because it is an area where people can come together and talk, and talk about the local stuff, what's going on.

- It's an opportunity to slow down, and to be real, and to have a conversation with someone, because not only do I have a story, but they have a story, and I wanna hear their stories.

They've told me years ago, we just don't come in here to buy stuff, we come in here to share and to talk, and the fellowship.

So that's part of it.

- [Teresa] And for that, Priddy's has become much more than a general store.

- It's the heart of the community, it really is.

- Well, if you wanna get lifted up, you come to see Jane.

She'll talk to you and lift you up.

- Just the warm smile that she greets you with, yeah, you don't find that everywhere.

- [Teresa] Something sure to make all the Priddies who came before awfully proud.

- I do this for them, because they're good people, and they did a lot to serve this community, especially my grandparents during the Depression, and how how my dad helped people, and didn't charge a high price, and just really went out to help people, and that's just what we wanna do here, is we help people.

And if we get to put a little money in the cash register from helping somebody, and serving somebody, that's what it's all about.

- [Deborah] Priddy's General Store is at 2121, Shepherd Mill Road in Danbury, and they're open Monday through Saturday.

To find out more, give them a call at 336-593-8786, or find them on Facebook.