Skip to main content

Every town in Delaware has its own unique character and charm, and the people and places that make each town special can often be found off the beaten path. It was in this way, thanks to an unexpected detour, that Laura Berberich and Tim Cumpston discovered the hidden gem of Georgetown history that is Wilson’s General Store.
  

“We found it by accident,” Cumpston says. “We were on our way down to Ocean City. There was a traffic jam, and our GPS took us right by here, and that’s when our interest was piqued.”
  

The couple, now owners of the store, were intrigued by the small building they came upon, with its modest white exterior and red metal roof, situated essentially in the middle of nowhere. But, it was the sign in the window that really drew them in. “It read: You can get a sub, you can get a notary, you can get groceries and you can get a gun,” Berberich says. “It was just curious. We wondered, what does a place with all these offerings look like inside?”
  

What they found was a one-room storefront with a kitchen and grill, chock-full of just what the sign had advertised. Originally a schoolhouse built in 1895, the building was moved twice before finding its home at its current location. It became a general store in the 1930s, then officially became Wilson’s in 1944 when it was purchased by Marshall Wilson. According to Wilson's son, Jim, who bought the store from his father in 1970, Marshall’s motivation for starting the family business went beyond making money.
  

“He had seven kids, and he wanted to feed them,” Jim Wilson says. It also served as a way to keep the Wilson children busy once they were old enough to work. As a teenager in the 1950s, Wilson says he remembers his father deeming it a “good day” if they cleared $100.
  

In 2019, Wilson suffered a heart attack, forcing him to shut down the business for the foreseeable future. His cousin reminded him about Cumpston and Berberich, who had inquired on one of their many visits about purchasing the store if it were to go up for sale. Cumpston says he received a call from Wilson asking if he was still interested in the store. When he said yes, Wilson got right down to business, replying, “Then start talking.”
  

After about a year of remodeling, the couple reopened the doors to Wilson’s General Store in November 2022. In this new venture, they recognized their two major challenges: learning what it took to run the store and how to gain favor with the locals who loved it. While some things were lost in the store's change of hands, such as the notary and the sale of firearms, it was important to the pair to keep the essence of Wilson's Store as close to the original as possible.
  

“Our promise to the locals was that we were going to keep the same menu. This is a Sussex County icon, and we didn’t want to come in from New York and change everything up,” Cumpston says.
   

“In the beginning, I was definitely expecting to get tested a little bit, because we’re not from Delaware,” Berberich says. “But Jim walked us through it. He’s been here with us, and I think it was important to the locals to come in and see a familiar face. And once they tasted the food, they were sold. They have become our family.” 
  

“We became part of Jim’s family, is what happened,” Cumpston adds. 
  

For the past year and a half, Cumpston and Berberich — with Wilson’s guidance — have continued to grow the Wilson's Store family. While Jim is no longer an official employee, he often comes over in the  morning — from his house just down the street — to have breakfast with the regulars and greet any first-timers who wander in. Whether someone is stopping by to indulge in one of the store’s famous scrapple, egg and cheese sandwiches or is rerouted by Wilson’s just in time for lunch, they are guaranteed to be welcomed with a warm hello, and to leave with both a full stomach and a full heart.
 

Start Service

Start or Transfer Service

We are committed to providing safe, reliable and competitively priced energy services.

Get Started with Delaware Co-op.