SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Country stores were once the hub of rural communities where adults came to buy goods and catch up on the town gossip.
While the kids ran around outside with their RC Colas and candy.
23-year-old Jon Oliger is bringing one store in Sumner County back to life, called the South Tunnel General Store.
When John Hamilton walked in it didn't take long for the nostalgia to hit him.
"We would come down and wait for the train to deliver the mail," Hamilton said.
He hasn’t set foot inside the country store since he was a young child. The same goes for Harry Woodward, who was immediately flooded with memories of the past when he walked in. He remembers fondly when someone thought they could take on wasps.
"The man said wasps won’t sting until the first of September and it was covered with the red wasps. He reached up and twisted that thing off and next thing you know they do actually sting after the first of September," Howard jokingly said.
It stung both men to see the store close in 1961. The historic store building was built in 1859.
The store is coming alive again 62 years later thanks to Oliger.
"It’s been passed through a lot of years," Store owner Jon Oliger said.
Oliger has always wanted to own an old country home and fix it up.
He got a two for one, when he discovered the South Tunnel General Store in is backyard. He immediately began getting to work refurbishing it.
After a few months of hard work the store is looking more like it originally did. It is stocked with food, classic sodas, antiques, so everything you would expect to find at an old country store.
Hamilton thinks it's a bold move for Oliger to bring life back into the store.
"That's a big gamble for him to come in here and try to start things up again from nothing," Hamilton said.
He knows it's easy to sit back and watch time fly.
"We rush through life too quickly and then you wake up one day and you're old," Hamliton explained.
The memories may come and go, but this community feels grateful they’re getting a chance to relive some of the best moments of their life.
"It does bring up memories you haven’t thought about in a few years," Woodward said.
Oliger thinks that’s something you can’t put a price tag on.
"I never thought I’d find a community like this. Everyone here is so friendly. The whole reason I’m doing the store is for the community," Oliger said.
The store is open Friday and Saturdays from 11 in the morning until 7 at night.
Nearly all the money spent at the store goes back into fixing it up. Oliger wants to add more goods to the store and extend the hours eventually.
The store is located at 310 S Tunnel Rd, Gallatin, TN, United States, Tennessee.