Stepping into Buzby’s Chatsworth General Store is like slipping into a time capsule. Part café, part general store, Buzby’s has eluded the wrecking ball to keep the country store charm of old-fashioned retail and personalized service alive and well and ringing up sales.

Built in 1865, the general store, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was the “Capital of the Pinelands,” serving generations of “Pineys” in the area. The Buzby family owned it until 1967, when it changed hands several times. After going through a few decades of being neglected, repaired, neglected, restored … you get the idea . . . new owners did a major overhaul and fixed it up to the charming place it is today.

The front part of the shop is The Cheshire Cat Gift Shop, stocked with fun gifts and collectibles. You can pick up some authentic “Piney” crafts created by local artisans and craftspeople or add to your at-home library with titles by John McPhee, Henry Carlton Beck, Howard Boyd and other authors who have written about the culture, life, ecology and people of the Pine Barrens. What used to be the Feed Room is now a small antique emporium, carrying everything from small collectibles to larger furniture pieces.

In the back, you can make like a local and sit a spell in the café. Surrounded by antiques and old-fashioned décor, you can feast on Chatsworth cranberry walnut pancakes, French toast, omelets or their two signature sandwiches – the “Jersey Devil Monte Cristo” or the “Hart’s Hoagie.”

But for as cute and cozy as Buzby’s Chatsworth General Store is, it hasn’t forgotten its country store roots. Their shelves are also stocked with toiletries, packaged foods, snacks and beverages for that “ooops!” moment when you remember that you forgot something you need for your camping trip or ran out of ingredients for tonight’s dinner.