You might be surprised to learn that there are some stores in America which have been around for 100, 200 and even 300-plus years. These historic stores have weathered the storms over the years, from wars to recessions and more, yet they still manage to keep customers interested. What's more, they've even survived COVID-19 when many larger businesses are starting to crumble and close stores. Read on to see the oldest stores in America and how much, or how little, they have changed. 

Nestled in Charleston, South Carolina’s historic Rainbow Row, The Tavern claims the title of America’s oldest liquor store. The corner shop at 120 East Bay Street predates nearby landmarks like the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon.

The venerable liquor store sells beer, wine and spirits (including moonshine, of course), and specializes in small batch and local producers. Customers can stop by for tastings and get advice from the “friendly, knowledgeable, sober” staff.

The Moravian Book Shop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is the oldest continuously-operating bookstore in not only the United States, but the world. In 1745 the Moravian Church appointed a nearby inn to operate a bookstore. The store’s location changed several times until it moved to its current home in the church’s publications building near the Central Moravian Church (pictured) in 1871.

 

Moravian College has taken over the bookstore’s ownership from the church, and it is now the college’s student bookstore, with management provided by Barnes & Noble. There’s plenty for non-students too, with books and Moravian gifts alike, plus sandwiches and beer through partnerships with a local deli and brewery.

Though the exact year of establishment is unknown, this Bath, New Hampshire business claims the title of the oldest continuously-operated general store in the United States. Not just a store though, throughout the 1800s The Brick Store housed law offices, a millinery shop and a press.

Up until 1942, The Brick Store served as the post office for the town of Bath and the original post office boxes are still on display today. New ownership starting in 2017 reopened the store after a period of restoration work. While the shelves are still stocked with smoked cheeses, maple syrup and homemade fudge, many of these country goodies were for sale online too. Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant the store is closed indefinitely. Hopefully it will open its doors again soon...

America’s oldest jewelry store first opened at 51 Old Marlborough Street, just across from Paul Revere’s silversmith shop. The name and ownership changed several times in the early years, but the store had always been synonymous with fine jewelry, watches and gifts. It was in 1869 that the firm officially consolidated to take the Shreve, Crump & Low name, however the Great Boston Fire in 1872 meant a relocation.

The jeweler’s storied past includes crafting many well-known cup trophies, and serving the needs of Hollywood’s most glamorous. In 1965 newlyweds Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had their wedding rings engraved in the store while they waited. The current ownership has relocated to 39 Newbury Street, and there is also a store in Greenwich, Connecticut. 

The history of this venerable bookstore in Andover, Massachusetts, is directly tied to that of prep school Phillips Academy. Just a 10-minute walk from the boarding school’s campus, students would head downtown to the Andover Bookstore to purchase all their reading materials.

Today, Phillips Academy students, parents and alumni can stop by to purchase apparel and other school merchandise in its newer location, or even online. The independently-owned bookstore, which is the second oldest in America, stocks everything from book bestsellers to toys, as well as used books, and offers community events like storytelling and book groups. However, it has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and as a result the bookstore launched a GoFundMe page with a fundraising target of $125,000 to keep it afloat. 

A young man by the name of Adam Carl moved to Greencastle, Pennsylvania, in 1825, opening Carl’s Drug Store that same year. The location of the business would move several times, but it remains the longest continuously-operated drug store in the United States. For many years Carl’s Drug Store operated out of a three-story brick building on East Baltimore Street, where traces of the shop’s name can be spotted on the sides.

In 1999 the owners relocated the store to a stand-alone building at 145 North Antrim Way. According to the local Allison-Antrim Museum, Carl’s Drug Store celebrated its 180th anniversary in 2005 by giving away a booklet chronicling the store’s history along with a “an old-fashioned, hand-held church fan”.

Originally called The Village Apothecary Shoppe, and located just down the street from its current Greenwich Village location at 102 Sixth Avenue, this is America’s oldest apothecary. During the 19th century the proprietors changed, until Clarence Otis Bigelow took ownership in 1880, lending his name to the store that would welcome public figures, like writer Mark Twain, Eleanor Roosevelt and Thomas Edison, over the next 100 years.

Customers visit the historic store for skin care, make-up, fragrance and other bath and body products. The Ginsberg family, which has held ownership of the store since 1939, is in its fourth generation of Ginsberg pharmacists, though in their own words: “Business, of course, has changed over the years. The pharmacists no longer dole out cocaine eye drops (‘Instantaneous Cure!’) nor is alcohol served in the back (loosely rumored to have been popular during Prohibition).”

While an apothecary opened on the corner of 13th Street and Third Avenue in New York in 1851, it was 1894 when its apprentice pharmacist John Kiel purchased the business and began operations under the name “Kiehl Pharmacy.” John’s apprentice, Irving Morse, took over in 1921 and his ambitious plans for stocking new goods included the first ever Kiehl’s product.

The store stayed in the Morse family through to the 2000 L’Oreal purchase of Kiel’s. Since then stores have opened across New York, in malls around the country, and worldwide including airports such as Singapore’s terminal 4 (pictured). The original East Village store on 3rd Avenue and 13th Street is still open for business.

The oldest hardware store west of the Mississippi actually got its start as a tinsmith shop in Placerville, California. With changes to the name and ownership six different times in the first 50 years, it wasn’t until 1907 that the store began to carry its current name, Placerville Hardware.

George Fausel purchased the store in 1952 and it has been in his family for the past three generations; Albert Fausel is now the current owner. In addition to offering all the staples of a hardware store, Placerville also rents metal detectors and says it offers the largest stock of gold panning supplies in the area. 

Alley’s is the oldest store on the entire island of Martha’s Vineyard, and a historic institution for small-town West Tisbury, Massachusetts. When it opened it provided local farmers and fishermen with a retail outlet for their goods, and sold other basic staples. Over the last 150 years it’s not only been known as the type of place to buy any number of different items, but also served as the local post office for a period of time.

In 1993 the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust completely renovated the store, which, according to the Trust, “remains an emporium of the essentials and the fanciful”.

Shane Confectionery started as a confectionery supply business at 112 Market Street in Philadelphia, whose owner expanded operations in 1863, opening a confectionery store next door at 110. Following a series of owners selling confectionery goods (and briefly dabbling in the fireworks trade), Edward Shane purchased the store in 1910. He installed elaborate cabinets, glass showcases and marble countertops.

The Shane family continued making hand-crafted candies over the next 100 years until 2010 when Barry Shane sold the business to the Berley brothers, two young confectioners whose burgeoning candy business had been featured on the Food Network. They launched a grand reopening in 2011, and have since added a chocolate café in the store and expanded by opening an ice cream parlor. While the store was temporarily closed due to COVID-19, it's now back open selling sweet treats again.

Following the end of the Civil War, the industrious Mary Chesley Calef mortgaged her family farm and used her savings to open Calef's Store in the front rooms of her home in Barrington, New Hampshire. Five generations of Mary’s family have owned and operated the country store, which boasts it’s been “buying and selling local since Ulysses S. Grant was president”.

Today the building looks much the same and continues to sell traditional country store goods like sharp cheeses, molasses and honey. It features more than 150 New England food and gift vendors, a deli counter, and an old-fashioned wooden pickle barrel. Calef's Country Store closed temporarily due to the pandemic, but has now reopened its doors

After the Civil War, Colonel H.M. Cook started a mercantile company in Centerville, Texas, moving first to be closer to the railroad, and again in 1884 to its final location in Belton. The store’s name changed as various family members took over the business until 1917 when it became Cochran, Blair & Potts Department Store.

In 1970 Roy and Jean Potts purchased the entire ownership, and the Potts family still owns and operates the store today, marking a total of seven generations. The store underwent a refurbishment starting in 2016 to modernize the building, while retaining and repairing much of its 19th-century character. Customers still rely on Cochran Blair & Potts, the oldest running department store in Texas, for an array of merchandise and especially boots – both cowboy and work.

With a flair for marketing, Chicago pharmacist Peter Merz opened his drug store on the city’s north side, opting for the word apothecary in the name as a nod to his Swiss heritage. Recent European immigrants made up much of the clientele in those early days, recognizing Merz’s apothecary-style drug store and herbal medicines as a slice of home. In 1972 the Merz family, lacking a successor for the business, sold the store to 26-year-old pharmacist Abdul Qaiyum.

In 1982, Qaiyum moved the store to its current, larger location, which features leaded glass windows, tin ceilings and other custom-built details to replicate the styles of turn-of-the-century European apothecaries. The business has now expanded into online retail and opened an additional Chicago store including a boutique shop for men’s shaving products.

Then and now: America's oldest companies still open for business