Hooper's Store facts for kids

Hooper's Store is a famous shop and meeting place on the TV show Sesame Street. When the show first started, it was one of the main spots on the set, along with the 123 Sesame Street brownstone, the Fix-It Shop, and the carriage house. The first owner was a kind grocer named Mr. Hooper.

After Mr. Hooper's actor, Will Lee, passed away, other characters took over running the store. These included David, Mr. Handford, and Alan.

David and Gina's Time

David, a young African-American character, moved to Sesame Street in the early 1970s. Mr. Hooper soon hired him as an assistant. David started working at the store in Season 4 while he was studying law in college.

Mr. Hooper left the store to David in his will. For a couple of seasons, a teenager named Piri also worked there. After that, David hired a new person named Gina (played by Alison Bartlett-O'Reilly) in 1987. Gina was a young teenager who helped David, just like he had helped Mr. Hooper.

In one Sesame Street book, Bert was hired to help David. Bert accidentally broke a teapot that Mr. Hooper had given to David, but David forgave him.

David left the show in 1989 and his character moved to a farm to live with his grandmother. His last appearance was in the Season 20 finale. Gina kept working at the store for a few years after Mr. Handford bought it. Later in the 1990s, she got a new job at the local daycare. After finishing college, she became a veterinarian and stayed on the show.

Mr. Handford and Carlo's Time

The energetic Mr. Handford was a new character brought in just to run the store. He was different from David and Gina, who were characters first before becoming store operators. Mr. Handford was an African-American man and a retired firefighter who bought the store to stay busy.

At first, Leonard Jackson played Mr. Handford. Then, David L. Smyrl took over the role. Smyrl made the character much more cheerful, friendly, and young at heart.

In 1991, Sully and Biff tried to hang a picture. But one hit from their hammer made the whole store's wooden structure fall apart! No one was hurt, but the store was ruined. Mr. Handford thought about giving up on the store. However, everyone convinced him they needed it, so they all worked together to rebuild it.

A teenager named Carlo (played by Carlo Alban) first appeared in 1993 as one of Gordon’s students. In 1995, he was hired to work at the store.

Mr. Handford and Carlo ran the store until 1998 when the actors left the show. It's believed that Mr. Handford sold the store to Alan (played by Alan Muraoka) that year.

Alan's Time

Alan Muraoka joined the cast in 1998 as Alan, the new owner of Hooper's Store. Muraoka has said that his casting was a bit unusual because most of the previous owners were older and more like grandfathers.

In Season 35, Natalie was hired by Alan to fill in while he took a vacation. Big Bird and Baby Bear were worried about the big change at first. But Natalie slowly made them feel better. Natalie was played by guest star Natalie Portman. Portman was supposed to be in three episodes, but because she lost her voice, Gabi had to take over for the other two episodes.

In Season 38, Chris Robinson joined Alan in running Mr. Hooper's Store. Chris is played by Chris Knowings, and he is the nephew of Gordon and Susan.

In 2009, an article about the show described the store as becoming a bodega, which is a small grocery store.

Hooper's Store in Theme Parks

Hooper's Store has been featured in different Sesame Place theme parks. At the Pennsylvania location, Mr. Hooper's Store was part of a play area.

Japan's Sesame Place also included Mr. Hooper's Store, which was a gift shop.

For the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street in 2019, an Australian pop-up exhibition named its gift shop "Hooper's Store."

Images for kids

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  Original owner Mr. Hooper (Will Lee) and his store when it was a candy shop, soda fountain, and general store.