Pointers Country Mart, a country store/convenience store in northern Gloucester, will hold a soft opening for its new location on Friday, Jan. 17.
Located at the intersection of Ark and Hickory Fork roads, the building formerly housed Rick’s Country Store, which closed in 2020. Pointers is owned by Niral Patel, with Toni Wisen to serve as manager.
“We’re excited,” said Patel. “A lot of the area residents are also excited. They are coming to the other Pointers (location) happy that that store (what used to be Rick’s) will be opening up again, having local food and a country store. They were excited. They were sad to see it close in 2020, but most people are excited about it reopening and having home cooked food items close by.”
The store will have made-to-order foods as well as grab-and-go items. Food items include Hunt Brothers Pizza, Hershey hand-dipped ice cream, bone-in chicken both baked and fried, made-to-order sandwiches and more. The location will sell all three grades of gas—non-ethanol gas as well as on- and off-road diesel.
Patel said he also wanted to bring healthier food items to the location such as salads and cold cut sandwiches. He wants to have a “variety of different things that people would like.”
He also said that they just want to “provide a place for people to come sit and talk. Just like we have at our other stores. A place to go hang out.”
Patel said that a lot the memorabilia and sponsorships of the Little League teams will stay on the walls of the store.
“A lot of the memorabilia and sponsorships of the local Little League teams, we still have those pictures and those plaques so we are going to put those back up on the wall that we had taken down for remodeling, but a lot of that stuff will remain,” he said.
Patel also said that “we appreciate the warm welcome we have received from the community and the county of Gloucester. Everyone has been really supportive and appreciative.
An official grand opening date has not been set, but Patel said that he is anticipating a spring opening. Store hours will be Monday through Saturday from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.