One of four children, Mr. Adderley was brought up in a family where he was expected to develop a trade, according to his son Mr. Stanley Adderley, the grocery store's night manager. "Everyone had to have a trade back then. One of my father's brothers was a tailor and another was a mason. "My dad was a carpenter,'' said Mr. Adderley. "But he wasn't very happy and when he turned 21, he told his father that he was going into business for himself. He only had 30 shillings in his pocket but he had a good reputation and different people helped him get started.'' The grocery store first opened on Parson's Road. "That was when there was no electricity,'' noted Mr. Adderley. "They had to use oil lamps back then.'' In 1924, T.A. Adderley & Sons Ltd. moved to Clarence Avenue, now known as St. John's Road. "The store was set up in what is now the UBP building -- opposite today's location,'' he said. Mr. Adderley, who has been involved in the grocery store since 1940, began helping out when he was still in school. "I worked during my lunch hours and on weekends,'' he said. "When I finally started there full-time, my father had just passed on.'' Mr. Adderley's brother, John Adderley, began working in the family business in 1936. But he was posted in the Army during World War II leaving Mr. Adderley to fill in. "It was just me and my mom (Mrs. Beatrice Adderley) running the store from 1940 to mid 1943. We were responsible for keeping the store open. "Then John was allowed to leave the Army because of hardships at the store,'' said Mr. Adderley. "The business wasn't in very good shape because my father had been sick two years prior to his death and the shop was run down.'' Mr. John Adderley returned to take over what was then a small business. The only refrigeration in the store at the time was a small two-square-foot cooler, in which staff had to put ice every day to keep sodas cold. T.A. Adderley & Sons sold salted meats like bacon, ham, pork, pig's tail, pig's snout, mackerel, and herring. All meats were hung on a nail at the back of the store and cut with a knife upon request. A limited selection of cheese was also available but it was not refrigerated, said Mr. Adderley.

Perishables like butter, peanut butter and lard came in large tubs and were weighed in balance scales. "In the summer, butter, lard and cheese would often melt but we couldn't do anything about it,'' noted Mr. Adderley. Spices, which came in four-pound tins, were sold by the half ounce. White sugar was imported in 100-pound bags and brown sugar in 240-pound bags. Flour came in 98-pound bags and rice came in 50-pound sacks. "Everything came in huge quantities. We'd weigh it or scoop it up by the pint,'' said Mr. Adderley, adding that brown rice was the cheapest rice back then, unlike today when it is the most expensive. T.A. Adderley's also sold charcoal, kerosene oil and canned food. After the War, business started to thrive, said Mr. Adderley. And when the United States built a presence in Bermuda, the economy continued to prosper. In the late 1940s, the store acquired some small refrigerators. "Our first frozen food box was built in Bermuda,'' noted Mr. Adderley. "It was twelve-feet long and more than three-and-a-half feet wide.'' The first section of the grocery store's existing structure was built across the road in 1956.

"It was a sign of a change in the times,'' said Mr. Adderley. Added Mrs.

Catherine Adderley, who worked in the store when her husband, Mr. John Adderley, took it over: "We lived in a house behind the existing store. My husband bought both the house and the lot of land because he knew he would build on it one day.'' The only new piece of equipment in the newly constructed store consisted of a freezer chest. The other refrigeration was second-hand, noted Mr. Stanley Adderley. "But as the years went on, the second-hand fixtures were replaced with new refrigeration units. Today, everything is brand new,'' he said. Mrs. Adderley, who worked in the store until about 30 years ago, recounted the days when mothers came in with their babies to weigh them on the balancing scales. "My husband loved it,'' she said. "The business was so very personal back then.'' She added: "During Christmas week, we used to go to Devonshire, get a dead pig and bring it back to the store where we would hang it. People wanted the pork to make their cassava pies. It was quite a treat for them.'' Mr. Adderley never thought T.A.

Adderley & Sons would turn out to be a full-service supermarket. "In the mid 1930s, there were small grocery stores in all of the parishes. I had just started school at the time. But I remember the store owners told my Dad to come and work for them and if he didn't, their businesses would close him down. Well, most of their small parish stores are all gone today. "And we're a modern supermarket,'' said Mr. Adderley, adding that many old customers still patronise the store. "We have quite a few loyal shoppers. Even when some of them moved out of the neighbourhood, they kept buying from us. Today, some of our customers are fourth generation,'' noted Mr. Adderley. Mrs.

Catherine Adderley said the store was very old fashioned when she worked there. "We had a winding cash register and a huge wooden counter in which to serve people. There were no check-out counters like in stores today. "We had very little when we started,'' she said. "But we built it up. And my husband gave his customers a lot of personal attention. "Since Gareath (Adderley) took over, he has built the store up and he continues to give his customers that personal touch. "I hope his children will carry on the business one day because it has been 100 years now -- it would be a shame to give it up,'' she said. PHOTO OLD ADDRESS -- T.A. Adderley & Sons Ltd. was formerly located in the house opposite the existing store on St. John's Road, which is now the UBP building.

NEW AND IMPROVED -- A three-story building was added on to the existing neighbourhood grocery store on St. John's Road in Pembroke.

LACKING SPACE -- Night manager Mr. Stanley Adderley pictured stocking shelves in the old store before the new addition was built on last year.