Lewiston resident opens small store in Uniontown

Robbin Weatherly stands next to her Coca Cola machine on her second week of business. Weatherly began working toward the mini-mart after she saw the town didn’t have a convenience store.

A small convenience store just opened in Uniontown now serves the only road-side stop along Highway 195 between Colfax and Lewiston.

Uniontown Mini Mart opened Jan. 4 and carries basic snacks and a refrigerator stocked with basic grocery supplies.

Uniontown and Colton residents now have another option of stocking up on basic groceries and snacks closer to home, said owner Robbin Weatherly of Lewiston.

Drivers making their way along 195 now have a pit-stop for snacks, water, and drinks too, she said.

“I come in every day. I don’t cook so I come in and get my coffee or a doughnut. You hear all the local gossip,” said Sarge Sommer of Uniontown, who was sitting at one of the booths drinking a coffee Monday morning.

Sommer used to drive from Uniontown to Lewiston for coffee every day. Now, he said, he just comes into the mini-mart and drinks his coffee at one of the two store booths.

The store is located at 118 S. Montgomery, across the highway from the Uniontown Post Office. Located in a corner of the Fidelity Bank Building, the mart shares the building with Uniontown Deluxe Used Goods.

They don’t sell auto supplies, alcohol, cigarettes, or gas.

Weatherly is renting from the owner of the building, John Booth. Weatherly worked around the clock to open the store, which Booth had already partially remodeled.

“If they can just buy milk, bread and eggs, how much more convenient could it be, especially for the elderly?”, Weatherly said in an interview with the Gazette on Jan. 11.

Weatherly with her husband Dan, commute every day up to Uniontown.

Her dream of opening a convenience store was born during her six years as a grocery merchandiser in Lewiston, she said.

She was helping move merchandise at a store in Lewiston last year, she said, when one of the vendors started giving her a hard time about opening her own store. The idea stuck.

When she used to drive by Uniontown, she used to think, “this town needs something,” she said.

A call to Uniontown city hall and more talks with Uniontown residents confirmed her suspicions that townspeople would like a convenience store in the area.

“It’s a place for the kids, a place for the elderly to get the basics,” she said.