mom and pop

• Mom and Pop, mom-and-pop, Mom-and-Pop

Named for the archetypical case in which such a business is run by a self-employed couple with children.

mom and pop (plural mom and pops)

1. (informal, business, commerce, retail) A small business, often but not always owned or operated by a family.

   Hypernyms: SMB, SME

   Coordinate term: big box

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see mom,‎ and,‎ pop.
   • 1952 November 24, “Religion”, in Time: The Weekly Newsmagazine, volume LX, number 21, Chicago, Ill.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 76, column 2:

     Also, love for mom and pop.

mom and pop (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of mom-and-pop.
   • 1997, Bradley S. O’Leary, “What Makes a Restaurant Romantic?”, in Dining by Candlelight: America’s 200 Most Romantic Restaurants, Austin, Tex.: Boru Publishing, →ISBN, page xxi:

     In the past ten years or so, there has been an explosion of restaurants. This is a very welcome development, as the art of fine dining has spread to areas that previously only had mom and pop diners or substandard steakhouses.

   • 1998, Ed Gorman, chapter 4, in Cage of Night, →ISBN, page 33:

     McDonald’s and Burger King have pretty much wiped out the mom and pop diners; […]

   • 2016, Steven M. Studebaker, “Global Leadership Without Hubris”, in A Pentecostal Political Theology for American Renewal: Spirit of the Kingdoms, Citizens of the Cities (Christianity and Renewal – Interdisciplinary Studies), →ISBN, part III (The Spirit and National Renewal), page 229:

     Did he eat at local mom and pop diners or national chains?