'A mom and pop shop': Grocery store opens in Hillsborough, N.B., after years without one

The Village of Hillsborough, N.B., is located about 25 minutes southeast of Moncton. Not a long trek, but long enough for someone who has to make the trip back and forth for groceries.

The village and the surrounding area have been without a grocery store for close to three years, but that's about to change.

The Gateway Market was a beehive of activity Thursday morning as wholesalers stocked the shelves of Hillsborough's new grocery store.

Byron Gourley purchased the building a little over a year ago after the Freshmart Grocery closed in 2019.

Gourley co-owns the market with his husband Chuck LeBlanc and the pair hope to not only provide a service to villagers, but to tourists.

"From Hillsborough to Alma is an hour's drive. So, all of Albert County from that rural area going down to the Bay of Fundy, there's no place to buy groceries," says Gourley.

“So when we moved here two and a half years ago, we saw a niche, and because there was a niche, there was a demand.”

The store was partly inspired by a popular Nova Scotia attraction.

"We're going to have a country aspect to it. Just like Masstown Market, when you go in there you can tell there's something different. You can tell it's more focused on a mom and pop shop as opposed to a big corporation, and we want to avoid that corporate feel to it," says Gourley.

Hillsborough Mayor Bob Rochon says having a grocery store back in the community is great news because people will no longer have to make the trip to Riverview or Moncton.

"With the price of gas, the way it's going, it's really going to appeal to people to shop locally and support the owners. And quite frankly, a lot of seniors will get their groceries here," says Rochon.

The owners have made extensive renovations and will be ready for a soft opening on May 28. A grand opening will come later in the summer.