Hooper's Store



Hooper's Store is located on Sesame Street between the Fix-It Shop (or present-day Laundromat) and the courtyard. Described in early materials as a candy store, Hooper's functions largely as a lunch counter and general store, and also boasts a newsstand. The residents of Sesame Street visit Hooper's regularly, including Big Bird, who often drops by for a birdseed milkshake.

In the season 8 premiere, which aired on November 29, 1976, Hooper's Store celebrated its 25th anniversary, which means that Mr. Hooper opened the store in 1951.

Hooper's Store had gone through a few redesigns over the years: from 1969-1998, the building was green with its trademark yellow- and black-checkered design below the window looking out front with an old-fashioned Bell Telephone System logo on the left side, and a green- and white-striped awning overlooking the front window, various murals have been painted on the building throughout those years. Later in 1998, when Alan took over, the entire front of the building was repainted a bright blue color and a new red vinyl awning stretching over the front window, and also around the corner of the building to a new side window (that was added that same year) with white letters reading "Hooper's Store" on both sides (no murals on the side of the store now due to the new side window, and the checkered design was dropped). In 2002, the building was repainted again, this time it was repainted with in a pale orange color.

Starting in Season 39, Hooper's got a complete overhaul, interior, and exterior. It was more "modernized" to keep up with the modern children. It got a new exterior color (back to blue) and a new tan and red striped awning. The Bell Telephone System sign is not hanging off of the left side, but it is hanging on the brick wall above awning that faces the arbor. The interior is no longer an old-timey soda shop, yet more of a convenience store. It is clad with refrigeration, and magazines and newspapers on a special shelf. The interior is now a light green and the "first dollar" of the business is hanging on the wall.

For Season 46, Hooper's received yet another overhaul, this time recapturing its old-fashioned soda shop roots, complete with repainting the facade framework green, bringing back the classic yellow-and-black checkered design (complete with the old Bell Telephone System logo, in addition to a new free wifi symbol), and its old-fashioned striped awning. A new feature to the redesigned store is a vertical neon sign affixed to the corner of the building.

Hooper's Store has occasionally played host to outdoor music performances. In a 2003 episode, the store held a karaoke night. In a 2004 episode, The Cute But Not So Fuzzy Four gave a musical performance outside Hooper's Store.

In 1991, Biff accidentally damaged the store when he hammered a picture frame to the wall, and Hooper's Store was then rebuilt, with work completed in episode 2795. In a later episode, the mural on the side of the store was updated in a mural by artist Speedy Van Go (played by Robert Townsend).

In a 1999 episode, Alan put up a sign in Hooper's Store, which exclaimed, "Hooper's Store, where you can get what you want just the way you want it." This sign, however, led to Telly Monster making an unlimited amount of requests.

In a 2002 episode, Alan's fried chicken special ignited a grease fire that nearly caused the store to burn down. (This episode was written in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.)

As glimpsed in Bedtime with Elmo, the store's normal hours of operation are 8am to 7:30pm. During Jim Henson's Musical World in 2012, John Tartaglia calls the store (using the phone number 123-456-78910), where Alan's answering machine states their hours are 7 to 8am (referencing the show's air time on WNET, the main PBS station in the Greater New York Area).

Owners

 * Mr. Hooper (1951-1982)
 * David (1982-1989)
 * Mr. Handford (1989-1998)
 * Alan (1998-present)

Employees

 * Tom (1971-1972)
 * David (1971-1982)
 * Piri (1984-1986)
 * Gina (1987-1995)
 * Carlo (1995-1998)
 * Gabi (2004)
 * Miles (2006)
 * Chris (2007-present)

Helpers

 * Ernie
 * Cookie Monster (Episode 0406, Episode 0725)
 * Bert (Bert and the Broken Teapot)
 * Grover (Follow That Bird, Episode 3809)
 * Bob (Follow That Bird)
 * The Honkers

In a season 12 episode, Geraldo Ortiz is working in the store.

In a 1994 episode, Savion fills in for Gina while she's sick.

In The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, an unidentified curly-haired man can be seen tending to customers and patrons dining outside the store.

In Season 35, Natalie was hired as a temporary replacement for Alan at Hooper's Store in one episode, while Alan was on vacation, but she was never shown working there afterwards.

Brands
See also: Brands sold at Hooper's Store

In seasons 43 and 44 alone, consumer products seen on the shelves of Hooper's have included Goober Face Babyfood Mashed Thanksgiving Dinner, NoLogo Cruisers diapers, SPAM parodies SLAM and CRAM, Flochman's Yellow Mustard, Hinee Poo 99¢ Bathroom Tissue, and Glup It cups, spelling error represented on the package. Some brands reference in jokes; Sonia's Toaster Bread Plain Bread Crumbs references the fact that the Fix-It Shop regularly repairs toasters.

One episode of Sesame Family Robinson featured some of the various brands.

Merchandise
The store has been depicted in several Sesame Street playsets, including the Fisher-Price Little People set. "Hooper's Store" also appears as a property on the Monopoly: Sesame Street Edition game board, in place of Park Place.