Why Mom and Pop Shops Go Corporate

“I remember my mother saying that instead of scooping out mashed potatoes with a serving spoon, they were using an ice cream scoop to make the servings all uniform. I thought she was just complaining, but it turned out to be symbolic of the way things were,” Headley explained.

On the other hand, when Downington National Bank in Downington, Pa., was taken over, restructured and renamed DNB, Shirley Landis VanScoyk was relieved.

“It was an awful small town club before … I was a member of this bank for 20 years, handed them documents with my name on them once a week but never once was called by name until now,” VanScoyk says. “It was a horrible, closed minded, pedestrian experience before,” she adds.

And big business has been a plus in other areas in Downington, according to VanScoyk.

“We have a small grocery store that has abysmal service,” she says. “Everyone in town laughs about it, but it does send you down to the Wegman's once in a while, when you just want to be somewhere you know the service will be great and quick and without drama, even if it costs more!”