Teen Co-Owner Brings Old-Fashioned General Store Charm to Portsmouth's Olde Towne

On High Street in Olde Towne Portsmouth, a small shop is pairing the area's history with a young owner's ambitions. Market Street and General Store sells old-fashioned candy, candles, pottery and Christmas decorations, and one of its co-owners is still in her first year of college.

Lindsay Goodwin, 18, graduated from Churchland High School in June 2025 and now studies at Virginia Wesleyan University, where she is majoring in art and minoring in business. She divides her time between the campus in Virginia Beach and the store in Portsmouth.

Among the holiday merchandise, the shop also stocks old-fashioned Coca-Cola bottles kept in its original 1958 cooler, Goodwin said.

The store opened roughly three years ago. Its concept grew out of the family's trips to the mountains of North Carolina, where traditional general stores remain a common sight. "We loved the idea, but we wanted to bring it to our hometown," Goodwin said. Portsmouth's long history made High Street a natural location, she added, and the goal was an "old-fashioned family place for everyone to come."

Her father, Tony Goodwin, a Portsmouth native with a long career in commercial real estate, helped her launch the business while she was still in high school. He describes her as his business partner, though he also sees the venture as a lesson in ownership. He was candid about the difficulties. Foot traffic is healthy around the holidays and during events but can fall off sharply in winter. "Small business is tough. It's not for everyone. If it was, everyone would be doing it," he said.

Customers help make up for the slow stretches, he said. Visitors from many places, including a number with military ties who have lived around the country, often tell the family the store reminds them of home. "We've created a space that is nostalgic and fits Olde Towne perfectly," he said.

The Goodwins also view the shop as part of a wider push to revitalize High Street, which has dealt with vacancies over the years. "We are just part of the solution in making High Street truly a place to live, work, shop, and play," Tony Goodwin said.

For Lindsay, the work offers real-world experience in retail, tourism and customer service, and a way to remain tied to her community. She enjoys working with her family and meeting out-of-town visitors, particularly at the holidays. Friends were often startled to learn she was an owner. "Wait, Lindsay, you work here? That's crazy," they would say, she recalled. Others doubted a general store could succeed in Portsmouth. "But here we are," she said.

The store takes part in community events, and Goodwin said it had special activities planned for a holiday music festival on Dec. 13 to draw people to Olde Towne. Tony Goodwin said the family will soon work with Karen Wadhams to bring additional items to the shop. He added that the business was set up so Lindsay could eventually own it outright. For now, she is balancing classes, customers and the demands of running a small business, with the aim of keeping the doors open and High Street moving forward.