When the last food shop was about to close in Otersen, Lower Saxony, in 2000, citizens took the initiative. They formed a civil law association and established a village shop. Today, it is not only a shopping venue but also a meeting point and place to exchange news for the village of 510 inhabitants. Otersen became the motor of a development. Town citizens called a village shop network into being, published a “village shop handbook”, and with the “knowledge transfer centre for rural spaces” advise people who want to establish shops in other municipalities.