{"id":5837,"date":"2019-03-15T09:51:12","date_gmt":"2019-03-15T13:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=5837"},"modified":"2025-08-22T19:36:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T23:36:31","slug":"the-one-hundred-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2019\/03\/15\/the-one-hundred-club\/","title":{"rendered":"The One Hundred Club"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The Original Sleeper_s Store founded by Joseph Sleeper. Sleeper_s today is in the same location.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sea turtles, mighty redwoods and the lucky koi fish. \u00a0The list of 100-year-old survivors is not long.\u00a0 Sleeper\u2019s market in Caribou passed the century milestone in 2014.\u00a0 It now looks very different from the first store, but the service and the values remain.<\/p>\n

Rooted firmly on the corner of Route 1 and Lyndon Street, the small store has been a hub for generations.\u00a0 Caribou looked much different one hundred years ago.<\/p>\n

Sleeper\u2019s store is located in what was formerly known in Caribou as \u201cthe flat.\u201d\u00a0 Many of Caribou\u2019s early Catholic citizens lived in the flat.\u00a0 A Lebanese-born Catholic, Joseph Sleeper chose this area to build his empire.<\/p>\n

Quality, value and friendly service is a promise made by the small grocer\u2019s welcome sign.\u00a0 Founded in 1914 by Joseph Sleeper Sr., Sleeper\u2019s today serves as a place to buy clothing, produce, canning supplies, groceries, fresh meat and, for some, serves as a place to visit.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t always the modern grocery store it is now.<\/p>\n

Originally a traveling salesman, Joseph traveled the New Sweden and Woodland areas selling fabrics and sewing supplies to farmers. \u00a0\u00a0He sold his goods from a carriage and though he spoke little English, Joseph often made friends with the locals, even spending the night with those who would invite him in.<\/p>\n

With his profits, Joseph Sleeper built a store.\u00a0 The first Sleeper\u2019s began by selling barrels of dried goods, fish, fabrics and sewing supplies. \u00a0Joseph Sleeper, with the help of his family, established a reputation for quality and trust with the people of Caribou.<\/p>\n

This reputation has been handed down three generations, passed on to Joseph\u2019s sons, Ike and Joseph Jr., and later to their sons.\u00a0 The store is currently owned by Joseph\u2019s grandsons: David, Mark and Joseph Sleeper the II.\u00a0 The family has always given priority to customer service.<\/p>\n

By going the extra mile for their customers and establishing a friendly relationship, the store\u2019s operators have provided service that the people of Caribou can count on. \u00a0A current owner of the store, David Sleeper, speaks to this.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some things we can\u2019t offer here because we are so small.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have infinite parking or an unlimited inventory.\u00a0 But we can offer things that the big stores can\u2019t match.\u00a0 We will memorize your name, help you put your groceries on the belt.\u00a0 We have a crew of five or six guys who will bring your groceries to your car and put them away for you.\u00a0 People appreciate not having to stand in the cold, they appreciate being treated like friends.\u201d\u00a0 It isn\u2019t just braving January winds that makes Sleeper\u2019s customer service what it is.<\/p>\n

In the midst of the Great Depression, Joseph Sleeper\u2019s friends and neighbors needed him more than usual.\u00a0 People in Caribou were hungry and could not afford to feed their families.\u00a0 A compassionate man, Joseph gave groceries to customers on credit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a customer came in and their tab was full, Grandpa would give them the groceries they needed,\u201d David said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d just start a new tab for them.\u00a0 (Grandpa) didn\u2019t want anybody to go hungry. \u00a0He cared too much while understanding most of these people would never be able to pay back their tabs.\u201d<\/p>\n

An employee at Sleeper\u2019s and an UMPI student, Moriah Connolly of Caribou speaks about some of the older customers she\u2019s seen.\u00a0 They have familiar faces, wrinkling by the year.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve had multiple customers tell me how they\u2019ve shopped here since they were little boys and girls. \u00a0They always talk about how the store has stayed the same.\u00a0 They keep coming back because they are treated like friends here, not customers,\u201d Moriah says.<\/p>\n

A backbone to the community for over a hundred years, Sleeper\u2019s store has lasted as few businesses could.\u00a0 The bond with its community members, service that surpasses expectation and a trustworthy reputation have allowed the store to last.\u00a0 But it\u2019s the people practicing the original values that makes Sleeper\u2019s so special, and it must be working.\u00a0 People just keep coming back.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sea turtles, mighty redwoods and the lucky koi fish. \u00a0The list of 100-year-old survivors is not long.\u00a0 Sleeper\u2019s market in Caribou passed the century milestone in 2014.\u00a0 It now looks very different from the first store, but the service and the values remain. Rooted firmly on the corner of Route 1 and Lyndon Street, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/170"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8490,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837\/revisions\/8490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}