Thetford Center Village Store Is on the market… again

The Thetford Center Village Store is up for sale once again, this time with a noticeably lower price tag and a mountain of uncertainty about its future. The historic property in Thetford Center is listed at $130,000, down from $165,000 when it was last on the market a few years ago.

Its prominent location and long history as a town gathering place make it a sentimental fixture for many. But its years-long shuttering — and now repeated attempts to revive it — highlight just how challenging small-town revitalization can be when infrastructure, economics, and ownership collide.

For decades, the Thetford Center Village Store was more than just a place to grab a gallon of milk. With a post office inside, gas pumps out front, and shelves stocked with daily goods, it served as a literal and social fuel stop. Residents would bump into neighbors, grab coffee, and chat while picking up mail, making it one of Thetford’s few “third places.”

The Village Store shut its doors in 2022 after failed “gasoline negotiations.” In 2024, it briefly found new hope: John Sayarath purchased the building with intentions to reopen it and breathe new life into the space. But, over time, those plans unraveled.

Gas pumps were removed before Sayarath purchased the store due to outdated infrastructure, while the on-site post office was indefinitely suspended in May 2025 due to safety concerns with the building.

Yet, this September (2025), a group of local residents — Tim Briglin, Deecie Denison, and California resident Dom Perella — appeared before the Thetford Selectboard with a new vision for the store. Their proposal: buy the building through a nonprofit, restore it with grant funding and community sweat equity, and lease it to a proprietor selling local farm goods and prepared food.

Their idea is to re-open the store as more than retail. They envision a community eatery and hub with basic groceries, coffee, and hot food, reviving its role as a third place, but with a fresh twist.

Yet their optimism was tempered by the same problem that’s dogged the property for years: septic limitations.

“We would need the Town's cooperation to facilitate a solution for septic. The property's septic is too small to support any sort of coffee shop or eatery, and the property is too small to support the necessary septic expansion. The project we envision requires identifying a location for expanded septic. We would like to explore with the Town what options are feasible.”

The Town now owns three of four abutting properties — the TImothy Frost Building, the cemetery to the rear, and the green space across the street which houses the Thetford Center Community Garden. However, according to Selectboard discussions, none of these properties seem viable as potential locations for the store’s envisioned septic system. 

Town Hall’s septic system benefits from a leach field on the Town Green across the street, but it was sized to accommodate the Town Hall, Town Garage, future uses of the Timothy Frost building, and the nonprofit Thetford Center Community Association (formerly a historic school house), not an expanded commercial operation with an eatery. 

With the building now officially back on the market — and its condition reportedly deteriorating, including rotting walls and an unstable foundation — any buyer will face steep renovation costs on top of the septic puzzle. While the building is more affordable than ever, it’s also more fragile than before. Community interest is real, as the idea of a nonprofit-led revival gains attention, but without infrastructure support, even the most passionate plans may falter.

Still, in a village that’s lost its post office, its gas station and convenience store, and its third space, the Village Store represents more than just a real estate listing. It’s a question of whether Thetford can reclaim one of its few true gathering places, or whether the door will remain closed for good.