Hooper's Store

Hooper's Store is a fictional business and meeting-place on the television show Sesame Street.

After the death in 1982 of Will Lee, the actor who played Mr. Hooper, the store was managed by other characters, including David,[2] Mr. Handford, and Alan.

In Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, Michael Davis notes that the store was one of the early core concepts that producer Jon Stone brought to the show: There would be an older proprietor of a neighborhood variety store, the type that had a soda fountain with pedestal stools.

[5][6] In Sesame Street Unpaved, David Borgenicht writes: Hooper's Store is what all good communities and neighborhoods require -- a gathering place.

Hooper's Store is to Sesame Street what Cheers was to Cheers, what the Pirate's Cove was to The Love Boat, what Arnold's was to Happy Days: a place where Muppets and humans alike could go to get whatever they needed, whether that be a Figgy Fizz soda or a chocolate egg cream (Hooper's specialty).

[7]The fictional character David (Northern Calloway), a young African-American who moved to Sesame Street in the early 1970s, was soon hired by Mr. Hooper as an assistant.

David was originally conceived as a hip, upbeat singer fresh out of high school who was fond of eccentric hats.

During seasons 16 and 17, a teenaged boy named Piri (played by Eddie Castrodad) worked at the store.

The construction brought minor, cosmetic changes to the store, most notably a back door accessing the basement and kitchen.

[9] Muraoka has commented that his casting was atypical for the role, as most of the previous owners "were older and more grandfather-ish.

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