Shawnee Country Store

The bakery side covers homemade bread and cinnamon rolls. Bread is baked on site rather than shipped in, which suits a shopper who wants a loaf for the week instead of a packaged supermarket brand. The cinnamon rolls fall into the same category, made in the store and sold as a baked good rather than a boxed item. Candies round out the sweets, useful if you are picking up something small to take home alongside the bread.

The store also handles lunch meats, meats, and cheeses. Lunch meats are the sliced, sandwich-ready kind, while the meats and cheeses cover what you would build a meal or a board around. This is the part of the store to visit if you are stocking a refrigerator rather than a pantry, and it pairs naturally with the bread for sandwiches.

Posted hours are 8AM to 5PM. Payment is by cash or check; there is no mention of a card reader, so plan to bring one of those. Because the store sits in Ava, a small town in southern Illinois, it is worth confirming the day's hours before a long drive rather than assuming the counter is staffed straight through.