Preserving general stores, the heart of small towns

Opening day at the Way Way Store in Saco, Maine, is always cause for celebration. After a long winter, customers pour in to get their first taste of spring, like Sugar Daddies. "I wanted to be the first customer of the year, for good luck," said Alex.

For the past decade or so, these visits have felt especially sweet. For a while, everyone thought this store had closed for good. "It was gone, it was sad," said Peter Scontras. "It was like an old friend had died."

Scontras grew up in Saco. The Way Way Store originally operated as a country general store. Back then, it was considered "way way" out of town, and it was run by the same family for nearly a century. When it closed down in 2003, it sat empty for eight years, until Scontras and his wife, Bridget, both retired teachers, reopened the store as a labor of love.