3rd element for "the rake"

When i think of a mom-and-pop store, i think of the CY market that used to be close to my house. It was sadly put out of business by the food lion across the street and Publix and Kroger a few miles down. It was in a run down, old looking wooden shopping center which is still there. Very antique like. The CY Market had the best slurpies around. You could also get any candy bar known to man, a soda, or a snack. I think its sad how mom-and-pop stores can barely stay open thanks to giant corporations such as walmart and kroger.

There is a coffee shop in Nashville called Cafe Cocoa and it is owned by a couple and isn't a chain or franchise. Starbucks is about to put them out of business. There is a Starbucks around every corner in Nashville, as there is in every other city. And to compensate for the business they lose to Starbucks, their prices must be risen, and Lord knows coffee at Starbucks is already expensive as it is. How will places like Cafe Cocoa stay open unless locals choose to give it their business despite location and price? It seems nearly impossible. But I know people who try. My high school English teacher tries his hardest to support all the mom-n-pop stores in the area that he remembers from his days growing up in Nashville that are still around. But he makes private high school teacher's money and has 3 kids. How will he afford it? That 50 cents more you spend on a latte at cafe cocoa every morning starts to add up. I guess its a corporate world.

It seems that sooner or later mom-n-pop stores will become a thing of the past. But some make it. Some even do so well that they become chains, building more shops and restaurants around town, or around the country. Maybe it is about the product having to be supreme to the other places. There is a woman named Barbara, who lives in my hometown of Franklin, who has opened a Southern home cooking restaurant our of her own home. She gets more business than she can handle! Her food may be more expensive than cracker barrel, but it is so good that people keep coming back for more. What sets her apart? Excellence? I've seen excellent businesses go down the drain. Location? Maybe. She does run her business out of Franklin, where most people can afford a nice Sunday afternoon meal every week. Most people more often than that. But I'm sure there are businesses in the hood that are considered "mom and pop" businesses and thrive as well.

I think personality has a lot to do with it. Who wants to go into Walmart when you could go into a cute little southern decorated market and be greeted with a, "Hey there! How ya'll doing?" When was the last time you heard that when you walked into Kroger?