Although it didn’t really have a name, over the years, customers have taken to calling this bull moose “Henrietta,” says Anita Young, who owns and operates Young’s General Store with her sons Allan and Joe.
The store also is famous for its pickle barrel, where customers use tongs to fish out the dill of their choice.
“People get a kick out of it,” Anita says of the whiskey barrel.
The pickles tend to go fast in the summer, so the barrel has to be filled twice a day. Some folks stop in and fill their own jars to take home.
Young’s General Store, started by Anita and her late husband, Bill Young, turns 40 this year. “We’ve kept it an old-style store,” she says.
Many visitors express surprise as they step through the doorway. Most pause and marvel at what they see, from the pickle barrel to the wooden floors and the antiques. Virtually every space is filled.
The store has a wide array of gifts and souvenir items, including moccasins, T-shirts and sweatshirts; homemade fudge, such as chewy praline, amaretto and rocky road; Young’s own hot sauces; pickle toothpaste, pickle floss and gum; and even a yodeling pickle.
Prominent are a pot-bellied stove, antique milk cans and a player piano that’s played with foot pedals. On some summer evenings, Anita can be found tickling the keys at the piano to the delight of travelers and customers.
You don’t have to look far to find the Canadian sense of humor.
There’s a “fur-bearing trout” hanging in the store. “The winters here are so cold that even the fish have to grow fur,” Anita says, with tongue in cheek. And when visitors are directed to the store’s outhouses, there can be reluctance – until the door is opened to reveal a fully modern restroom.
Young’s sells groceries, sporting goods like fishing gear, as well as live bait and fishing and hunting licenses.
One of the most popular items is “Grammy Mae’s Summer Sausage,” which is sold under Young’s label and shipped around the world.
Young’s General Store, a favorite tourist stop on Lake Superior, displays another local icon: Wawa’s original Canada goose statue, which from 1960 to 1963 welcomed travelers on the Trans Canada Highway. One of the store’s big sellers is a small replica of this Wawa goose.
For Anita, the best part has been “the people we meet, the customers we get … the people coming back every year.”
And she has gotten to work with her sons over the years, which for Anita has been, “a real joy.”
Young’s General Store, 111 Mission Rd., Wawa, Ontario. 705-856-2626. youngsgeneralstore.com.
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