Suzy Q’s Summit General Opens

COVENTRY, RI — Not long after Suzy Quattrocchi and Town Council members cut the ribbon at Suzy Q’s Summit General, 25 Old Summit Road,  more than 100 hungry people from near and far lined up for sandwiches and ice cream.

The celebration and buzzing business were hard-earned. Quattrocchi bought the venerable, storied spot shortly after the previous owners, Paul and Nancy Skaling, closed the local icon, then known as the Summit General Store, the state’s only general store, in January 2023 [as reported by RICentral.com] and put it on the market. The store had sold groceries, household goods, farm supplies, and sported a Post Office. The Post Office, household items and farm supplies aren’t returning, but Suzy Q’s Summit General will sell groceries, deli sandwiches and ice cream from Windsor SB Dairy in Johnston.

Last year, she was still busy working inside with power tools and filing permits to return the store to its days providing food and community comfort to Western Coventry. When word broke she was opening at long last, many made a point to stop in and pick up where they’d left off. Some traveling through, wandered in.

First in line for sandwiches were a trio of friends from Brooklyn, CT, in town to buy kayaks.

“We were just passing through for kayaks and we want food,” said Michael Christian, waiting with Zak L’Heureux and Kyle Desabre.

The store is well positioned within a few steps of a parking lot along the Trestle Trail section of the Coventry Greenway, and a few short turns from the roundabout connecting Rte. 117 (Flat River Road) and Rte. 102. Quattrocchi, a motorcycle buff, will also host bike nights Tuesdays at the spot, the interior of which will serve as an event space. The food and ice cream will be take-out service, she said. Hours are 10 a.m. till 10 p.m.