In recent years mom-and-pop businesses, long a staple of Newton County's retail sector, have gradually declined in numbers, giving way to big-box stores and national chains.

In the 1980s family-owned businesses comprised between 45 and 50 percent of Newton County's retailers. Today their share has fallen to 20 percent, according to Jim O'Bryan, manager of retail-commercial development for Georgia EMC, a sister company of Snapping Shoals EMC.

Last year one of the Covington square's oldest stores, the R&L Shop, shuttered its doors after 40 years in business. Owner Karen Long said she made the decision to close her women's boutique after several years of declining sales, which she attributed to the rise of shopping malls and outlet stores.

According to O'Bryan, there has been a national trend in the decline of mom-and-pop stores.

 That trend is the result of several factors including the rise of big-box, all-inclusive discount stores such as Wal-Mart and Target.

The arrival of a Home Depot in November 2006 partially contributed to A.J. Spillers' decision to close Spillers Trustworthy Hardware and Building Supply on Washington Street.

 In business for 15 years, Saturday was Spillers' last day.

Spillers, who for years worked alongside his wife, Anne, and son, Lance, said there were a number of reasons why the decision was made to close the store, including the loss of several contract customers due to the housing downturn.

"It's just the economy, competition, big boxes and so forth," Spillers said. "We're just paying out too much and not getting enough coming in."

Economic downturns are particularly hard on mom-and-pops. Because they do not purchase in bulk at the level of the bigger chains, they often find their prices undercut.

"The big chains have come in and slowly taken them apart," O'Bryan said. "From a pricing point, the smaller retailer just can't keep up."

Another factor contributing to the overall decline of mom-and-pops are the changing shopping patterns of American consumers.

"Essentially with both spouses working or with one spouse working and another spouse not around, your hours of shopping have been extended into the evenings and the mom-and-pops can't just go around the clock, 18-hours-a-day," O'Bryan said.

With many supermarkets and discount chains open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there is little family-owned businesses - who typically close in the early evenings and often closed on Sundays and Mondays in Covington - can do to compete.

"[Industry specialists have] been able to study the American shopper and have learned nowadays that a one-stop-shop is really helpful," O'Bryan said.

According to O'Bryan, where the prowess of the mom-and-pop remains unparalleled is in the area of customer service.

"There's still a need for those mom-and-pops that are able to provide extraordinary service," O'Bryan said. "The ones that have provided the exceptional service have been the ones to stick around. [Customers] want service and that's the way it's going to be."

Mayfield Ace Hardware, long a cornerstone of the square's business community, has weathered the times.

 Last year the family business, which sells hardware, garden supplies and outdoor clothing lines, among other things, opened a second location in the Kroger shopping plaza on U.S. Highway 278.

While business has been a little "softer" this year, owner Lee Mayfield said the community knows the store isn't going anywhere.

"We have felt that homebuilders aren't building as much, so we're feeling the pinch [from that]," Mayfield said. "I think consumers, as a whole, have pulled back a bit."

Mayfield said the wide variety of products carried by the store as well as its high-quality customer service should carry them through the current economic downturn.

"[We're] willing to spend time with somebody on a project regardless of how big that project may be," Mayfield said.

Fletcher's Jewelry Co. Inc. is one of the oldest businesses on the square. Established in 1932, it has been a family business for four generations.

Jim Fletcher, who runs the business with his wife, Gayle, and son, Jeff, said business has been a little slow lately but he expects it to pick up once the economy turns around.

"It's just a business cycle," Fletcher said. "Right now times are tough, but they'll get better."

While large chains, such as Jared Galleria of Jewelry, have hurt business for independent jewelry retailers, Fletcher said they haven't put anybody in the area out of business yet.

"They've gone mostly after the credit business. We've tried to stay basically a cash store," Fletcher said. "We do our own repairs. They're just a sales organization while we're what's called a full-service store."

O'Bryan said he does see a future for mom-and-pops despite current national trends.

"A lot of individuals have worked for other companies and would like to get out on their own," O'Bryan said. "In the retail side, it's really very easy to start up a retail business.

 "It's much harder to start up a manufacturing business."

O'Bryan said there is still a strong desire by consumers for original shopping experiences, something which mom-and-pops, as one-of-a-kind businesses, can provide.

"You're also looking for the experience as well," O'Bryan said. "That's where mom-and-pops can come in. The moms-and-pops will never go out of business. We'll always need them."

Central to the success of a mom-and-pop business, said O'Bryan, is finding the right location.

"I give applause to communities such as Covington, who are able to keep up their downtowns," O'Bryan said.

Fletcher only had words of praise for the Covington community that has supported his business over the years.

"Covington's a good town. You couldn't have had a better place to have a business," Fletcher said.