Michigan General Stores: 12 Worth the Drive

Last updated: November 2026

12 Michigan General Stores Worth the Drive

Michigan general stores are still selling penny candy and live bait out of buildings that went up before the Civil War, and a dozen of them are worth planning a stop around. I’ve been to two on this list myself, the Old Mission General Store and the Lexington General Store. The rest I checked against the store’s own website or its local tourism office’s listing.

This list is for anyone building a road trip or a Sunday drive around one. Each stop has its address, what it’s actually known for, and what to check before you go. Two stores from the earlier version of this list have closed, and I’ve noted those near the end so you don’t drive to a locked door.

Which Michigan General Store Is the Oldest?

It depends who you ask, and several stores on this list will give you a different answer. The Old Mission General Store traces its start to a trading post on East Grand Traverse Bay in 1839. The building that houses the Dixboro General Store went up around 1840. Doud’s Market on Mackinac Island opened in 1884 and is billed as America’s oldest family-operated grocery store.

Here’s how I’d settle it: Old Mission has the oldest claim, and Doud’s has the longest run under one family. Neither title changes how good the pot pie is in Good Hart.

Best General Stores in Northern Michigan

Old Mission General Store
18250 Mission Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686

This one isn’t in downtown Traverse City, whatever the mailing address says. It’s about 15 miles north, near the tip of the Old Mission Peninsula in Peninsula Township, Grand Traverse County.

The store began in 1839 as a trading post on the shore of East Grand Traverse Bay, and Traverse City Tourism’s history of the store describes it as believed to be the first store at the first permanent settlement in northern Michigan. Today it sells sandwiches, pizza, picnic fare, and basic supplies. I’ve been, and this store out on the peninsula really takes you back in time. I’d pair it with a lighthouse-and-wineries day on the peninsula instead of making a separate trip.

Good Hart General Store
1075 N Lake Shore Dr, Good Hart, MI 49737

Along the M-119 Tunnel of Trees in Emmet County, the little red Good Hart General Store has been open since 1934 and still handles the mail for Good Hart.

Inside you’ll find a deli, a bakery, groceries, and a gift shop, according to the Petoskey Area visitors bureau’s Good Hart listing. The pot pies are what people talk about. Hours shrink in winter, so check before you make the drive in the off-season.

Horton Bay General Store
5115 Boyne City Rd, Boyne City, MI 49712

Horton Bay is a hamlet in Charlevoix County, just up the road from Lake Charlevoix, and its general store dates to 1876. Ernest Hemingway knew it well. The store appears in two of his short stories, “Up in Michigan” and “The Last Good Country,” and he married Hadley Richardson in a church that once stood next door.

The current owners have run it since 2022, and the Horton Bay General Store & Inn website lists everything from live bait to espresso, ice cream, sandwiches, and picnic boxes, with a two-bedroom inn upstairs. It keeps a seasonal schedule, so confirm it’s open before you go outside of summer.

Grandpa Shorter’s Gifts
301 E Lake St, Petoskey, MI 49770

Strictly speaking this is a gift shop, but it earns its place. Carl and Ruth Shorter opened it on Memorial Day weekend in 1946, and the same family still runs it in Petoskey’s Gaslight District in Emmet County. It turned 80 in 2026.

You’ll see it described as Petoskey’s original souvenir store on the visitors bureau’s page for Grandpa Shorter’s. Come here for Petoskey stones, polished and worked into everything from wine openers to Christmas ornaments, plus Minnetonka moccasins.

Ebels General Store
420 E Prosper Rd, Falmouth, MI 49632

Falmouth is a small Missaukee County town, a detour west of Houghton Lake and Higgins Lake, and Ebels is the reason to make it. Chris Ebels started in 1920 delivering groceries by horse-drawn wagon and moved the store to its current site in 1927.

Meat is the specialty. The family opened its own USDA meat facility, Little Town Jerky Company, in 1994, and the Pure Michigan listing for Ebels runs through the jerky, snack sticks, brats, and summer sausage made there. Bring a cooler. There’s also a clothing department downstairs and a coffee shop if you need a break from the road.

Doud’s Market
7200 Main St, Mackinac Island, MI 49757

Brothers James and Patrick Doud opened this grocery on Mackinac Island in 1884, and a fourth generation of the family runs it now. The original building burned in 1943, so the store you walk into on Main Street is the one that replaced it.

It’s the only grocery store downtown, it’s open year-round, and the island tourism bureau’s profile of the Doud family covers the produce, deli and bakery items, beer, and wine on the shelves. Stop here first and build a picnic. A second, smaller Doud’s Market & Deli near Shepler’s Dock is open May through October.

Top General Stores in Michigan’s Thumb Area

Lexington General Store
7272 Huron Ave, Lexington, MI 48450

A trip to the general store is a highlight of every visit I make to Lexington. It’s just chock-full of fun stuff, including some I didn’t even know I needed. It sits on Huron Avenue, the main street through downtown Lexington in Sanilac County, about 90 minutes from Detroit.

The building went up in the 1850s as a boot shop. Kids go straight for the candy counter, and the rest of the store is Michigan-made gifts. It’s a good holiday-shopping stop, too.

Grindstone General Store
3206 Copeland Rd, Port Austin, MI 48467

The address says Port Austin, but the store is a few minutes east in Grindstone City, Huron County, where it’s the last business still operating from the original Grindstone City.

People come for the ice cream: small-batch flavors made in house, plus Stroh’s, in scoops the store advertises as the biggest in the Thumb. Order smaller than you think you need. Local artists’ work and Michigan-made collectibles fill the rest of the store, and the Port Austin Area guide to Grindstone City points out a second historic ice cream parlor, Rybak’s, nearby. It’s a seasonal stop, so check that it’s open before a spring or fall trip.

A Gourmet General Store in West Michigan

Fortino’s
114 Washington Ave, Grand Haven, MI 49417

Fortino’s started as a grocery in 1907 and moved into this building in downtown Grand Haven, Ottawa County, in 1923. The fresh-roasted peanuts are the signature.

Some customers’ grandparents shopped here, a point made in Visit Grand Haven’s listing for Fortino’s. The shelves also carry chocolates, wine, beer, cheeses, and specialty groceries, so this is where I’d shop for a gift basket rather than a souvenir.

A Historic General Store in Southeast Michigan

Dixboro General Store
5206 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48105

Dixboro is a village in Superior Township, Washtenaw County, a few miles northeast of downtown Ann Arbor. The store building went up around 1840, when Plymouth Road was the main route between Detroit and Ann Arbor, and it was remodeled and reopened as the current store in 1991.

Don’t come expecting groceries. The Dixboro General Store is a home and garden shop now, with furniture and home decor inside and planters and birdbaths outside in summer. It’s my pick for anyone furnishing a cottage.

General Stores in the Upper Peninsula

Copper World
101 5th St, Calumet, MI 49913

Calumet, in Houghton County, was built on the Keweenaw’s copper mining history, and Copper World sits in the John Green Block, an 1869 building that’s the oldest wood-frame structure in town.

Three generations of one family have worked the counter, according to Visit Keweenaw’s profile of Copper World. Inside you’ll find copper gifts, regional books, Sayklly’s chocolates, thimbleberry jam, and fudge made on site. It’s open year-round, with longer hours in summer and around the holidays.

Mohawk Superette
158 Stanton Ave, Mohawk, MI 49950

Mohawk is in Keweenaw County, on the way up to Copper Harbor, and the Superette is a working grocery store, not a gift shop. The Allouez Township business directory lists it for meats, groceries, beer, and wine.

It’s the least dressed-up store on this list, which is the appeal. Stock up here before Copper Harbor, and ask about the pasties.

Two Michigan General Stores That Have Closed

Old Town General Store, Lansing. Owner Rhea Van Atta announced in January 2026 that she was retiring and the store would close at the end of March, after 13 years. The building at 408 E. César E. Chávez Ave. is set to become the Old Town Cultural Center.

Ada Village General Store, Ada. The store in the little red schoolhouse at 7430 River St. SE, east of Grand Rapids, closed in 2023. The 1859 schoolhouse reopened in July 2024 as O’Briens Schoolhouse, a deli and ice cream shop.

Before You Go

Small stores keep small-store hours. Several of these run seasonally or cut back in winter, and a posted schedule can change with the weather or the staffing. Call or check the store’s own page the day you go.

Most of these are old buildings, so step-free entry and aisle width vary from store to store, and dog rules are each owner’s call. If either matters for your trip, phone ahead. For the wider area, the Mackinac Island accessibility guide and the Thumbcoast accessibility information page are useful starting points for those two regions.

More Places to Explore in Michigan

If a general store is your excuse for the drive, build the rest of the day around it. My guide to Paul Bunyan statues and festivals in Michigan is the same kind of roadside fun, and there’s a full list of Michigan splash pads for the kids once the candy kicks in.

For a longer trip, start with my favorite Michigan family vacation spots, find a good cup along the way with my list of Michigan coffee shops, or plan a night under the northern lights in Michigan.