Photo courtesy of Pixaby, CCO

At the heart of the American community is what we affectionately call the mom and pop shop. It could be a small grocery store, or a bakery, or a gas station. It is a family-owned and operated business servicing the local area, often for generations. In many cases, when the business began the family lived above the storefront. These businesses are known for personal service. It is impossible to imagine the United States without them.

The Great Little Shop

Mom and pop stores are always small businesses, although they may have more than one location. Typically, they are retail operations located in a neighborhood or in the heart of a small town. This doesn’t mean that you can’t find a mom and pop in New York City, or on some rural road, but you will always find that the mom and pop proprietors are closely connected to their community. It is precisely because of their community that the mom and pop shop exists.

The owners of a mom and pop settled in a location to raise a family and earn a living. They likely saw a need in the area for some type of business and raised capital to get started, either through a bank loan, some small investor, or family savings. Costs were often curtailed by locating the business on the ground floor of the family home. The variety of businesses which began this way is amazing. In addition to grocery stores and bakeries, mom and pop businesses could be bookstores, auto mechanics, hardware stores, shoe stores, ice cream shops, repair shops, florists, or even funeral homes. Pretty much any type of small business can be a mom and pop.

Often, prices at a mom and pop store are more than you would expect to pay from a large chain store or an online retailer. These are stores run by people who can’t carry a lot of inventory, who have limited buying power from their suppliers, and who exist mainly to keep a roof over their heads.

From Humble Beginnings

Sometimes, large businesses grow from mom and pop operations. Retail grocery chain Whole Foods, recently purchased by Amazon for $13.7 billion, started out in 1978 as a small organic grocery store in Austin Texas by founding couple John Mackey and Renee Lawson. After two years they merged with another natural foods store in Austin to become Whole Foods. A flood nearly destroyed their dreams, but neighbors, customers, and friends worked tirelessly to keep the store open. Never underestimate the impact that good community relations can have on a business!

Of course, not all mom and pop shops are run by mothers and fathers. Best friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened an ice cream shop in Burlington, Vermont in a refurbished gas station, also in 1978. Ben and Jerry cultivated a reputation as former hippies who wanted to sell a wholesome product. Their environmentally conscious business practices and humorously named flavors endeared them to the locals. They gave back to their community and maintained a small-town charm even as they grew to over 5000 Ben and Jerry’s scoop shops worldwide.

Changing Times

Most mom and pop shops have persevered through economic hard times and changing consumer interests. When small-town America shifted away from Main Street to the suburban malls, economists predicted the end of the mom and pops. Instead, malls depended on big-box stores, large and impersonal chain stores which look exactly the same in hundreds of locations across the country. Many of those stores have closed, leaving malls empty. Online operations lack personal service and, of course, the opportunity to actually handle the merchandise.

Small, independent bookstores were given last rites by economic forecasters over ten years ago. Instead, mom and pop bookstores are actually growing in number in the U.S. Children like to look through the stores to find just the right book for them. Consumers want personalized recommendations from their friendly, local bookstore staff. If sales aren’t at the same level as they might have been 15 years ago, local bookshops still have loyal followers who depend on them and will for many more years to come.

The mom and pop shop is more than just a place to buy a product. It is a way of life in America which is worth preserving.