A General Store Stopped Selling The Times. A Young Entrepreneur Stepped In.

On the other hand...I’ve been getting home delivery of the Sunday NYT for about 2 years or so, which has been wonderful. Prior to the home delivery option in my city, province, maybe even country, I would occasionally buy it when I was at one of the very few shops selling it, and it wasn’t always available on the same day. It’s vastly better than our two Canadian national newspapers at very little cost difference. I hope this NYT delivery service remains in place forever.

The Times should sell this kid papers for half price.

Funny thing, for 32 years I’ve lived in the same place, a mere 10 minute drive from the Times’ massive College Point printing facility, and for about all of that time, home delivery of the Times has been spectacularly unreliable. Can’t get all of the Sunday sections on a consistent basis. Deliveries missed when expected. Worse, the paper sometimes gets delivered during vacation holds.

It was a sad day, but the BGS still provides a wonderful space to share local news, gossip, weather forecast and what this year's foliage may bring. Frankly, that may be all we need until November 2020 when the NYT can once again print news that fits to read!

As a 67 year old daily reader of the physical Boston Globe, the thought of the dying of printed newspapers depresses me no end. I have wanted to pull the plug on my Sunday NYT hard copy so many times due to very bad editorial decisions, but I just cannot do it.

Maybe he might set up in Cork, Ireland as well and then I could be sure of getting my copy of the NYT🙂

I have been a long time subscriber of this publication for years in both the print and digital editions. I rely on this publication for national and world news as the local "news" outlets report very little world and national news focusing more on local "color"-the dominating religion and corrupt local politicians. Thankfully, we have the NY Times to fill in the gap.

A budding Richard Branson I bet.

Wonderful story

I had a Sunday paper route in the 1960's in Chicopee, MA. I delivered The New York Times, The New York Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, The Springfield Republican, The New York Post, etc. One Sunday the Herald Tribune did not show up. Bad news! Angry phone calls! Cussin' customers! Good luck, young man.

Many years ago I had a very long commute and I would stop into my local store for the essentials: coffee, juice, a breakfast sandwich, and The New York Times. Suddenly they stopped carrying the paper and when I asked why, the said "not enough money in it to make it worth our while." Hmmm. Did they think I was going to stop twice before hitting the highway? In short they lost $10/day in business, i.e., $50 per week. Stupid. And I so love this young man's enthusiam and entrepreneurship.

More than just "once in a while" he should get a tip. A hefty one at that.

There's just something about the printed page that makes a printed version of the NYT preferred. More and more people are just not reading in general never mind reading newspapers. Many times I've read parts of a NYT ...and slowly read the rest over time...sometimes reading sections months after their published dates. Years ago I worked at a small Catholic Chapel where the priests received numerous daily newspapers. They'd leave the old copies in the stairwell for recycling and I would take some when doing painting projects etc. Back then in the early 90's the paper and print was larger...the photography and the articles were of interest to me so I'd set them aside and read them later. Since that time I've bought numerous NYT papers and now read online as well. I've learned a lot of interesting things over the years that I don't think I could have read in any other publication. The comments section have allowed many of us to freely vent our frustration with our current Oval Office Occupant as well !! Another Plus for reading the NYT !!

How wonderful! There really is something to be said for actual newspapers..the newsprint...the sound of the pages turning...a lazy morning spent at home with a warm cup of coffee...sunlight streaming into the room...the dog/cat laying at your feet.... bathrobe and slippers... As much as we 'progress', there are still some basic human needs and daily rituals that we'll always cling to...

Nice going, Oliver. I think you are destined for great things.

Between Starbucks and NYT, it is getting difficult to find the physical paper. Thankfully I can get the paper delivered when and where I am in Florida. Don’t expect it to get any better. I think it will be a loss for everyone.

How uplifting. A Norman Rockwell painting comes alive.

If The Times cared about the environment at all they would immediately stop their print edition and would solely deliver news online. Do we really need to be printing ink on paper and delivering it all over the country using automobiles? Each step in the print process consumes fossil fuels and is responsible for emissions that we, as a world populace, need to cut down on.

Good job. Thanks for providing this service to your neighbors.

I had a paper route. The Boston Evening Globe was 10 cents and the Boston Sunday Globe was 50 cents.

As a daily reader of the New York Times for over 50 years, despite having never lived in New York, I applaud this young man and condemn the general store for being short sided. As to Starbucks, where I bought many copies of the Times over the years, that company has turned into just another Dairy Queen, purveying fat laden concoctions that resemble nothing of the Italian coffees and cafes they originally emulated.

Up here in northern Wisconsin we used to be able to drive 7 miles to the nearby tribal store to get the Times. Then last year, deliveries of all daily newspapers . . . the Times, Chicago papers, Milwaukee papers, Madison papers stopped. All that was left read was the local weekly (which is excellent for wrapping fish guts). Now we can get the Times, only on Sunday, by making a 32 mile round trip ... hoping to get there before they are sold out. None of the retailers could tell us why the papers no longer were delivered to their places of business. I guess because I'm a geezer I like the feel of a paper in my hands . . . but on weekdays, at least, that's no longer possible.

Thanks for the sweet memories of the general store in the small upstate New York town where I was an undergrad. A walk to the store every Sunday morning for the NYT was my church.

Bravo, Oliver! I agree with another commenter that offering some doughnuts and cider too might bring in more business. Alas, even I, a former print journalist, have gotten used to the online version and don't buy the print one anymore since I can't have it delivered to my house here in the country. Maybe if the internet turned off every Sunday, we would all go back to buying the actual paper. : ) I have such fond memories of my parents passing NYT sections back and forth and my sister and I poring over the comics (those had to come from the local paper lol).

Keep it up Oliver! Wonderful story.

[Name dropping alert!] In the late 1980s I had the honor of briefly knowing Sydney Gruson who had been a NYT foreign correspondent and foreign editor and then the Vice Chair of The Times Company. We met while working together on the ill-fated Gary Hart presidential campaign. He once told me his definition of civilization: Anyplace where you can walk to buy a copy of the Times. I think he would have enjoyed this story.

Interesting that a lot more people complained about than actually bought it!

Because the Times is our nation's paper of record, it needs to be available in paper format in every public library in the USA. Providing a paper copy of the Times to every public library in the USA would be a great patriotic gift from any one of a number of patriotic philanthropists. And reading the Times's paper format is MUCH better than reading the digital format because of the way the eye's peripheral vision works and because of the way in which the mind seeks connections. Good job, Frank.

I love it! Bravo young sir.

This reminds me of my small town general store, where the owners close on Sundays for a well deserved day off in the dead of winter. A neighbor picks the papers up from the store and lays them out on a card table in his front hall for everyone to come pick up at their leisure. Rather than making the Good Samaritan collect money, the owners of the general store request that you drop by during the week to pay for the paper. It works very well for our community.

Delivering newspapers and collecting the money for them was my first job many years ago. I had a large paper route for four years and it took time and determination sometimes (in the midwest's dead of winter) to get them all safely to the suburban houses. But besides the money that mostly I put into my college fund, it taught me about the entrepreneurial mindset. That has served me well.

When I first came to US 25 years ago as a grad student, one of the first habits I picked up was to buy the Times - particularly for their Science Tuesday section. Much later when I started working, I remember my apartment being full of old papers that I couldn't throw out before finishing reading. I don't get the print paper anymore, but enjoy the online version. I try to get my 10-year old daughter to read it, and do the (mini-)crossword and the spelling bee a few times a week. The amount of joy I get from reading the Times, especially the Sunday paper is way more than the $7 Oliver charges. It makes me sad to think that one day, unfortunately not too far away from what we are seeing with our country's base, the Times may cease to exist as we currently know it.

great story. Glad to hear about Oliver. I used to sell papers on the city streets when I was a youngster.

I think it’s wonderful that Oliver has taken this on. Unfortunately, it’s no surprise that far more people complained about the sales stoppage than ever actually bought the paper. People love to complain.

Here in Westchester County, the only very local paper that seems to hang on due to the indefatigable efforts of the editor/publisher, Gary Cahill, is the Croton Gazette. The Gazette, in times gone by, used to publish the forthcoming school lunches, very important to parents. Now there are no more school lunches. But the Gazette publishes very local news, information about the school board, construction projects, local sports teams, forthcoming events in the churches and library, obituaries, and articles about local personalities. All remain very important to its tiny readership. The main draws are letters to the editor, with pitched print battles between contending opinions. And the police blotter, always of interest. Having moved to a nearby community whose local paper died years ago, to be replaced by advertising weeklies and a weak online "news" report, I attest to the difference this makes. Election news, school board decisions and the like are hidden until after the fact. People want local news as well as national and international journalism. But it doesn't look like this is going to happen unless subsidized by a generous benefactor.

Good for you Oliver! May I suggest a sort of "week-old" line with a reduced price later in the week?

This is great, bravo to Oliver and boo to those who can't see past their anti-intellectual bias. I remember being a kid on St. John 35 years ago, going with my dad to the gift shop at Caneel Bay on Sunday's to get the Times, and an incredibly overpriced Snickers. (Thanks, dad). I still listen to my mom talk about when we moved to London in the 80s. My dad's office shared around their copy of the Times, and he got to bring it home on Wednesdays. These things stay with us. Oliver totally gets it. I almost feel bad for those who don't, but they just bring their negativity onto themselves.

Oliver possibly add mulled cider and homemade maple cookies.

I used to sell copies of the Burlington Free Press and the Times and WSJ weekday mornings at the city's largest employer, National Life of Vermont in Montpelier. I'd set up shop on a table they provided at the main entrance, sell papers for an hour, then go to the cafeteria where I'd receive a complimentary hot chocolate before walking to school. Afternoons, we'd deliver the Times Argus, the afternoon paper, which is still hanging on in diminished form. Seems like Oliver is following in that tradition as best he can. (Certainly the compensation hasn't improved much... we used to earn a couple bucks per week).

Since it seems like (some) people do not mind paying the extra cost, maybe the original general store could have just passed the extra cost onto the customers.

Oliver, you are my hero. Thank you for standing up for Democracy, Journalism, and your Neighbors who know that information is our only hope to save our country and the world at large. Wishing you success in all you do. And tell your parents that they are fantastic role models.

Bravo Oliver! Rural Vermont is a wonderful place to live yet it has its challenges and access to products like the Sunday Times is one. Nice to see a young person with a community spirit helping out like this.

What a wonderful story and while print may be in decline I hope that this young man's valiant efforts and clearly indomitable spirit will help to keep it alive. Well done Oliver!