Sonny’s Mobil in Hamilton, MA

The local shop that I examined is in my hometown of Hamilton, Massachusetts. Hamilton is a suburb on the North Shore of Boston, which is about a thirty minute commute into the city without traffic and primarily residential. With a population of around 8,000, Hamilton is a town so small that it has to combine with the town of Wenham to make a high school. Much of the history and culture of Hamilton is surrounded around equestrianism; there are many farms and stables dispersed throughout the town and there is a prestigious club known as The Myopia Hunt Club that is home to the oldest active polo club in the United States. Overall, the demographics of Hamilton’s inhabitants is pretty homogeneous. Hamilton’s citizens consist of primarily middle-class or upper-class families.

I chose to analyze Sonny’s Mobil which is a convenient store/gas station that is on a busy street as you exit off of route 128 into Hamilton. This store has been around since before I was born and my family has been going here since I can remember. For example, my dad plays his lottery here every week. Growing up the store was a quintessential convenient store. However, a few years ago, it began to specialize in liquor sales and was converted into a well-stocked liquor store with various convenience items. They now offer a very large selection of beer, wine, and spirits. In addition to the store being well-established, its employees have basically remained the same as well. Gail is one of the women who has worked there for as long as I can remember. While I was home I went into the store to find her working and decided to chat with her about her experience working at Sonny’s, in order to get a better sense of who she is and why she has remained working at this specific shop for so long. I learned that she lived across the street; therefore, her commute time and proximity to work is ideal. I also found out that she had recently experienced a grave tragedy; her daughter had been murdered outside of her home. Therefore, I believe it is fair to surmise that she might have some emotional connection to her place of residence that makes it difficult to leave and move on.

After chatting with Gail for a bit, I decided to loiter and observe who came in and out of the store. For the most part, the customers were middle-aged white men and women. I was there between 6pm and 7pm on Tuesday night and found that it was a relatively busy period. I assume this to be the case because most people who are commuting from the city, which many inhabitants in Hamilton do, are just arriving home from work and are looking for a convenient and comfortable place to stop.

Something else that is worth mentioning is Sonny’s competition with the adjacent Cumberland Farms. Although both offer comparable gas prices, Sonny’s is self-serve, whereas Cumberland Farms is full-service. I have observed that Cumberland Farms receives a lot more business in the mornings because they offer coffee, pastries, a deli, and such, whereas Sonny’s provides liquor and tobacco products which tend to have a greater demand at nighttime.

Cara Daly ’18