FAIRFAX, Vt. (WCAX) – At Adams Quick Stop in Fairfax, there’s plenty of traffic but few customers.
“It’s been slow,” owner Sherman Adams said.
Like many mom-and-pops, the business is struggling.
“I’ve gone downhill, too,” said Sherman, who turned 92 on Sunday.
He pretty much runs the business alone, putting in many hours a week.
“Eighty, maybe,” he said.
Sherman and his wife, Leona, bought the store in 1988. They both grew up in Vermont but were living in Connecticut when Sherman, a truck driver, wanted a change of pace. They thought the store would be their semi-retirement job.
Reporter Joe Carroll: Did you think you would be here that long?
Sherman Adams: No!
Leona ran the deli and Sherman ran the register.
Joe Carroll: You stock the shelves yourself?
Sherman Adams: Yeah. You do everything yourself.
When Leona died, the deli closed. Now, Sherman runs the store mostly by himself.
His work ethics are phenomenal,” said Steve Adams, Sherman’s oldest son. “Learned a lot: be tough, stand up, live every day.
Sherman lives above the store. Tony is another son.
Tony Adams: He’s got 22 steps to get upstairs.
Sherman Adams: Twenty-five.
Tony Adams: Twenty-five steps.
Sherman is still putting in 80 hours a week. But the Super Senior may be about to sleep in. Just above the “Open” sign is a “For sale” sign. The store has been on the market for a few months.
Tony says it’s time. “Well, he’s 92!”
“Times do change and you got to change with it,” Sherman said.
The hope is that when the business is sold, Sherman can still live above the store.
The next step: enjoying time with his family.
Sherman Adams: Seventeen grandkids.
Joe Carroll: Family is what matters, right?
Sherman Adams: Yup, yup.