LITTLE VALLEY — Brooks Market grocery stores in Little Valley and Cattaraugus are for sale, owners Mike and Lani Brooks said Tuesday.
The stores, both which opened in 1972, are the only grocery stores in their respective villages.
The buildings and equipment are for sale, said Lani Brooks from the Little Valley store’s office. She and her husband hope to find a buyer to keep both stores open. Between them, the stores have 24 employees.
Mike’s parents Thomas and Cherry Brooks opened Brooks Market in Ellicottville in 1971 and incorporated the following year.
Thomas Brooks opened the Cattaraugus Store in 1972, the same year his brother, Herbert Brooks opened the Little Valley location. Herbert Brooks later sold the Little Valley store to the family’s company, Brooks Markets, in 1975. The Ellicottville store was later sold.
Brooks Markets have been a part of the Little Valley and Cattaraugus communities for 45 years.
Mike said he and his wife came to the decision in mid December after consulting with his mother.
“She said, ‘It’s about time,’” Mike said. “She knows how hard it is.” His father died in 2009.
Mike said, “I’ve been doing this for 37 years. It’s getting a lot harder. When you have a business, it’s pretty much all consuming. You cringe when the phone rings at night wondering what might have happened.”
Last year Lani was diagnosed with cancer, Mike said. After operations and other therapy, she is cancer-free, he said. “I told her in the spring it was time to sell. I don’t have the drive anymore. It’s time to do something else.”
Lani said while it was getting harder to make ends meet, she hopes a new owner can come in and take over. That’s why they are selling the equipment with the stores. “I’m hoping someone else can make a go of it.”
Mike has already met with a couple of prospective buyers and believes as the word gets around, he’ll get some more calls from someone who wants to provide grocery service and gasoline for new generations.
“There’s opportunity here” for future owners, Mike said.
“It isn’t a decision that comes easy,” he said. “Especially for the employees. One woman has worked here for 35 years. My Cattaraugus manager has been here for 25 years.”
For many residents in both communities their first job was at Brooks Market.
Grocery stores are a meeting place for community residents, too. There are third and fourth generation generation customers.
“The business has changed a lot,” Mike said. “We’re still kind of old school.”
Lani, his wife, runs the office out of the Little Valley store; two daughters work in the store part-time; his son, Michael Brooks II, is a fourth generation meat cutter.
He learned from a third generation meat cutter, his father.
The difference between a good butcher and a good meat cutter is presentation, Mike said.
“We’re kind of winding down,” Mike said of the businesses. “We’ve stopped taking deliveries and will probably shut down by the third week in January,” he added.
“I started on the payroll at 14,” said Mike, 49. “I’m looking forward to what’s next in my life.”
(Contact reporter Rick Miller at rmiller@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @RMillerOTH)
