MAXWELL — Chet Hockett grew up in the Arrowhead neighborhood north of Greenfield. He remembers often passing by and his parents stopping in at Mom & Pop’s in nearby Maxwell.
Now he and three of his business partners own the convenience store at 203 S. Main Steet (State Road 9) and have made improvements ahead of its upcoming opening.
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“It’s been here for a long time; (I) wanted to just keep it going,” Hockett said.
He along with Steve Craney, Devin Coleman and Jenny Ingram bought the property in August 2019. Raman Sethi, who owned Mom & Pop’s for about 12 years, closed the store a couple weeks before the four took it on.
Hockett said the building was gutted before getting new electrical, drywall, flooring and a good cleaning.
The store is open when Hockett or one of his colleagues are there, but they’re working out kinks and determining staffing before an official opening in early 2020.
When it’s officially open, the shop’s hours will be 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
In February 2019, Sethi said he’d be putting the business up for sale after receiving a barrage of fire code violations from the Greenfield Fire Territory’s ramped-up inspection efforts. He admitted while the remedies wouldn’t have been expensive, he was frustrated because many of the violations had never been issues in the past. They included exposed wiring splices along with a need to remove extension cords and multi-plug adapters and to clean, among other citations.
Brian Lott, a fire marshal who heads the territory’s fire prevention division, said the building is now in good shape.
A former owner of the shop filled shelves lining the vaulted ceiling with vintage beer cans. Sethi kept them during his time as owner. Hockett and his partners paid homage to the collection by paring it down onto a smaller shelf on a wall by the store’s doorway.
Along with the soda, coffee, candy, snacks and beer, the store plans to soon offer hot food, including breakfast and lunch items along with takeout pizza.
Berry Beechboard, who works at Kline Cabinetmakers down State Road 9 from Mom & Pop’s, said he’s glad the shop will continue its presence in the community. He said he visits a couple times a week, often at lunch and at the end of his workday to play the lottery. Beechboard added he knows others will be equally glad to know the shop isn’t going anywhere.
“I know they stay busy,” he said.
