I just realized...

I know I've said before that by now, Alan's been running Hooper's Store longer than any other owner, but it just now occured to me the somewhat sad truth that Hooper's Store has been up and running longer than Mr. Hooper has been around: the fictional backstory aside, Mr. Hooper ran the store for thirteen years (1969-1982), meanwhile, the store has still been open for thirty more years since his passing, that's more than twice as long as Mr. Hooper's time with us.

Very interesting point!