Gray's General Store was a

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

located at 4 Main Street in Adamsville, Rhode Island. Founded in 1788, it operated for almost 225 years and was reputed to be the oldest continually operating general store in the United States."Gray's Store, 224-Year-Old Rhode Island General Store, Closes Its Doors Today"
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Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

''. Retrieved 7/30/12. The store featured an old-fashioned marble

soda fountain A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The machine combines flavored syrup or syrup concentrat ...

, cigar and tobacco cases, and Rhode Island

johnnycake Johnnycake, also known as journey cake, johnny bread, hoecake, shawnee cake or spider cornbread, is a cornmeal flatbread, a type of batter bread. An early American staple food, it is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaic ...

s. In 2007, U.S. Senator Jack Reed and then-Governor Donald Carcieri issued proclamations naming Gray's as the oldest continuously run general store in the country. The store was owned and operated by the same family since 1879, entailing seven generations. Gray's also was the location of the first post office in Little Compton, founded in 1804. Gray's temporarily closed on Sunday, July 29, 2012, after the death of its proprietor and lack of interest in keeping the store open by relatives, citing that "the shop's finances aren't sustainable and a supermarket down the street has siphoned away business." The store re-opened in the summer of 2013. However, the store subsequently closed, and, as of 2025, remains closed.

References

Companies based in Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Newport County, Rhode Island Tourist attractions in Newport County, Rhode Island American companies established in 1788 General stores in the United States {{US-retail-company-stub