BETHANY BEACH, Del.- A local, beloved grocery store is celebrating a major milestone.
Gerald and Emily Hocker have owned G&E Hocker's Supermarket for 50 years. The occasion is marked in the store with balloons, a special thank you card for the community, and a place for shoppers to leave their well wishes for the store.
CEO Gerald Hocker says it's notable that the small business stayed strong--and even grew--when larger, chain stores came to town. He says he owes his success to his employees and the entire area.
"My success is because the community has been very good to my wife and I, the Hocker family," he says. "In turn we have been able to be good to the community because of that."
While Gerald and Emily have owned the store for 50 years, the Hockers have had businesses in the Bethany area for seven decades. Hocker's father and his father's brother-in-law started a hardware store in 1947, and Hocker's uncle first owned the grocery in 1954.
"It's a family business. My wife and I are-- the name is G and E, Gerald and Emily." Hocker says with a smile. "We have worked together for 50 years every day and we are still married so that says something in itself."
Hocker says they continue to expand in in the Bethany Beach area-- and will do so for the next 50 years.