In this era of global retailing, a village of 420 souls doesn't rate much attention. Newbury, however, may be an exception. The small Middlesex community where Middlesex, Elgin, Lambton and Chatham-Kent meet has the distinction of being home to a small hospital serving a large rural area. 

The McNaughton Family Shopping Centre is turning Newbury into a shopping destination. 

It's a place where you can buy your steak, beer, barbecue and everything you need to build your patio without having to drive to the city. 

"We are right at the four corners . . . It's a unique way to draw people," says Monte McNaughton, who manages the centre along with his brother, Mike. 
 

The centre has an expanded Home Hardware store, which includes building materials, appliances and equipment rentals.  It also has an LCBO, a Beer Store, an M&M Meat Shops and an auto parts store that was recently revamped as a CarQuest franchise, an industry leader with 3,400 outlets across North America.  McNaughton said big retail chains have been wary of setting up in such a small community. It took a two-year effort to convince M&M Meats to come on board.  "We finally had them down here on a Saturday and by Monday morning, we had a franchise. We had the second-biggest grand opening in the chain's history," says McNaughton, 28.

ONE-STOP SHOPPING: Monte McNaughton, store manager at the McNaughton Family Shopping Centre in Newbury, balances six businesses under one roof, including M&M Meat Shops, CarQuest, LCBO, Beer Store, and Home Hardware Building Centre. CREDIT: THE LONDON FREE PRESS/ Ken Wightman

He has served three terms on the Newbury village council. He's also seeking the provincial Progressive Conservative nomination in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. 

The store, which employs 57 people, holds frequent fundraisers to help local schools and Children's Hospital of Western Ontario. 

Monte's grandfather founded a hardware business in 1948. His father, Gary, bought it from his brother in 1988. In 1997, the business moved after acquiring a lumber yard, and expanded its product line and marketing efforts. 

Mike says the centre's philosophy, passed on through the family, is to be a destination store with sufficient depth of inventory that customers don't have to leave town to find what they need. 

The McNaughtons calculate their market area at about 25,000 people. 

Some of the biggest orders, mostly for lumber, come from London, Chatham and Sarnia. 

"We can provide everything you need for your home for a renovation or for the backyard mechanic," Mike McNaughton says.