June Langevin asked her kids what she should do.

All of them, including Congressman James Langevin, suggested she enjoy Florida and put aside the notion of starting another business.

“Every one of the kids said, ‘You don’t need another thing.’”

That was all she had to hear. June isn’t ready to retire, although she says her age “is a secret.”

“I told them I’m spending your inheritance,” she said with a laugh Sunday afternoon.

That morning the Langevin clan, joined by Mayor Scott Avedisian and other city officials, snipped the ribbon to open the Pilgrim Dollar Store at the intersection of Pilgrim Parkway and Warwick Avenue. Actually, the store has been open since Dec. 10 when June placed a placard on the sidewalk along with two balloons. The place has been bustling ever since and June has had to reorder items in order to keep the shelves stocked.

Much more went into opening Pilgrim Dollar than defying the advice of her children.

June likes to think of it as “divine intervention” from her late husband, Richard, who so loved to operate the hardware store that once occupied the building.

Pet Zone, the previous tenant, was looking to scale back and June was uncertain as to what to do. She knew she would have difficulty renting the space in this economy. The prospects didn’t appear good.

Then one night she awoke – the “divine moment” – and she had the inspiration for a dollar store. She solicited the assistance of a cousin, Priscilla, who turned to the Internet to learn all she could about dollar stores. Her search brought her to a company that does turnkey operations.

For a considerable sum – June doesn’t get into the financial details – the company researched the market, developed a budget, designed a store layout and even provided a merchandise buying plan and a crew to set up the place. That was just part of it. June realized the store needed a complete facelift and she would have to get the required state and city approvals before opening the doors.

June’s intuition was that the store was well located with both the high school and senior center nearby. And she believes the timing is right, too.

“It’s the right thing to do in this economy. People don’t have money. It’s not high end and people can get 10 items for $10.”

What June is getting out of it so far is more than she imagined. On Sunday she chatted with customers, many of who remembered the days of the hardware store and made sure people found what they were looking for. Right beside her was her daughter Joanne, who had flown in the night before from Oregon, where she is a special education teacher for middle school students.

Joanne has already done some of her own shopping at the store. She picked out stationary items for her classroom and when the congressman showed an interest in several items, added them to her basket.

June has other plans for Joanne. With the nearest Wal-Mart two hours away from her home, June would like to see her open a store in Astoria, Ore. And June is already thinking of another store in Rhode Island, maybe Cranston, once the Warwick one is running smoothly.

So far, she says, it’s been very smooth thanks to her manager Tom McDonnell and a staff that’s on top of things.

Does this mean she won’t be going to Florida this winter? Hardly.

June has that planned out, too. The store security system provides her real time surveillance of the store on the Internet. In addition, the system provides instant access to sales and buying trends.

June will be able to keep tabs while soaking up the Florida sun.

Now there’s inspiration.