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“We’re not a district of big corporations and businesses. We are mom-and-pop shops, mostly immigrant-owned.”

He imported and sold firearms directly, through his Alexandria-based mail-order business Ye Olde Hunter, and also distributed them wholesale to thousands of businesses across the country, from small mom-and-pop shops to department stores like Sears.

Yet if you’re nervous about money in these nerve-racking times, you can still find a mom-and-pop operation with high standards, a long family history and — sometimes — rates that dip under $100.

Once the first generation of mom-and-pop motels prospered, the first chain operations arose and followed, targeting travelers who wanted no surprises.

Along the now-much-quieter highway, the old mom-and-pop operations died off or were gobbled up and “reflagged” by the chains.