Community & Convenience at Rimon’s General Store

In the center of West Chester each and every morning, a new little market, Rimon’s General Store, opens its doors to offer a broad array of coffee, food and products to the waves of the residents and employees who populate downtown from morning til night. Owner Rimon Donain and his wife Marisca opened their coffee and grocery store only six months ago in the Gay Street Commons between Church and Darlington Streets. They offer quality and convenience at fantastic prices, with steadily growing inventory and an expanding cohort of happy, repeat customers.

An Entrepreneurial Journey

Rimon Donain and his wife Marisca, Rimon's General Store

Rimon’s journey toward opening his own business has been surefooted, but not without challenge and upheaval. At around age 20 in the mid-1990s, Rimon left Indonesia, where he had grown up, to “search for my own way,” as he puts it. He had a friend in New York City at the time who owned a restaurant, and he found employment with him. After his time in NYC he relocated to work in a restaurant in Wilkes Barre for a few months, before a friend connected him with a position in Philadelphia. While working there, he heard of a job opportunity with Medpark, a professional parking service, who needed a valet in West Chester. And so, for the next 10 years, Rimon parked cars in the lot of the Wells Fargo Bank on Gay Street in the epicenter of town.

Rimon explains that he treated his valet job “as my own business,” always looking for what was needed, restlessly improving upon it in the ways that he could. Clientele knew him by name and enjoyed regularly seeing him there. In the meantime, he was making frequent trips to the convenience store across the street for small refreshments and snack items. “They were choking me with the price,” Rimon says, describing the substantial markup he began to notice on even basic items like bottles of water.

Rimon's General Store

During his decade-long tenure as a valet, Rimon met scores of local people, both those who live and work in the borough as well as those who frequent the borough from the surrounding areas. He found that he really enjoyed the social aspect of his job, speaking with and getting to know the people of West Chester. “That motivated me to open up a business,” he says.

Focusing on Customers

Rimon opened Rimon’s General Store alongside his wife, Marisca, both of whom have a keen eye for customer service and have created a warm and welcoming atmosphere. When a vending machine intended for the front of the store fell to backorder, they set up round dining tables and comfortable chairs instead. It’s now a cozy nook for people to eat and chat, watch the busy foot traffic outside, read the paper or conduct business.

Rimon's General StoreRimon has a very specific vision in mind: to be a community store. “I keep asking, ‘what do you want that we don’t have?’” he says. And it shows. The shelves are stocked with an incredible variety of items, from cereal and phone chargers to Buffalo Bob’s Jerky and an impressive selection of protein bars. He likes to stock local items, too, including various artisan sauces and West Chester’s own iSwich Gourmet ice cream sandwiches. Lottery tickets are a huge draw, with scratch-off winners often popping in repeatedly throughout the day. Rimon aims to always have what his customers seek and, in the off-chance he does not, all they have to do is ask and he’ll add their wish to his inventory.

Rimon’s General Store also offers delicious and quick breakfast and lunch options, with a variety of sandwiches, fresh, crisp salads and an espresso bar that features Italian roast espresso and smooth, bold Guatemalan coffee. Rimon’s breakfast sandwiches have also become an unexpected late night hit with the area university students. “They buy two,” he says with a laugh.

Beyond offering a wide selection, Rimon’s General Store is open seven days a week and until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays through Saturdays.

Fair pricing is a high priority for Rimon. He’s well aware of how other local convenience stores and groceries are priced, and his markups are the lowest except for on cigarettes, for which price cuts are only attainable for corporations able to buy in mass quantities. At the same time, his sights are set far less on competition with area stores than on attracting nearby clientele from within a few block radius, for whom he’d like to be the regular go-to shop. Though he has great website, that’s about the extent of his current advertising. He’s relying on word of mouth and building a base of repeat customers by offering convenience and quality service.

The Continuing Adventure

When not working, which isn’t often, Rimon and Marisca love to explore. One of their favorite hobbies is riding their bikes through state parks all over the country, with Valley Forge among their most frequented. They share a love of road trips and the West Coast, which they’ve journeyed down together. “We like … adventures,” Rimon summarizes, smiling.

Rimon's General Store

As for the journey of their business together, Rimon has some key steps in mind. They hope to eventually have cooking fans installed so that they can cook, to-order, throughout the day. He and Marisca, who Rimon says loves to try any and all regional cuisines during their travels together, are curious to see how their customers might one day respond to Indonesian food, given the opportunity to try it. They’d also like to add a wider produce selection to their inventory in the near future.

Rimon recognizes the challenges of running a business, particularly in a competitive, ever-changing market. But at the root of it all is a couple devoted to doing it well. Their eyes are open and their tactic responsive. Though he concedes that it can be hard for business owners to get people in the door, he sees tremendous value in providing for his customers the intangible, yet very real, feeling of community. “Sometimes people come in your store and it’s not about your food. It’s about you.”

Find Rimon’s General Store at 117 W. Gay St. in West Chester; phone: (484) 470-3886.

  • Photos: Leigh Green

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