...and that attitude is a philosophy of enjoying the quality of life in Story, Wyoming.

Dick Hoover and his wife, Patty G., owners of Piney Creek General Store and the Waldorf A'Story Deli, are partners in a business venture that started in 1993 in search of a better quality of life.

Hoover, originally from Dallas, Texas, was a burned-out executive, who happened to read an ad in a Wyoming newspaper advertising the grocery store for sale.

"The only person minding the store the first time I walked in," Hoover said, "was a blond woman smoking a cigarette, watching t.v., and talking on the phone.  I thought to myself, "I can do that."

Since January 1993 when the store first opened to today the business has grown six-fold. Hoover believes that the success of a small business in a remote area is how well you serve your market.

And the person who keeps all the balls in the air is Patty G. She runs the deli, does the ordering and does some cooking.

"The stress level is less here," Patty says.  "I don't have to drive to work,.  I just fall out of bed and I'm there."  The Hoovers live beside the store in a quaint old Story log cabin.

"We grew out of customer response and today offer more than 12,000 items in the grocery store and are serviced by 300 vendors. "If a customer requests an item, we do it -- we don't look at the economics."

The grocery and deli  is a team effort.  Vicki Norwood, a Story resident, is  responsible for ordering specialty items -- everything from giant snails in a can to over 200 varieties of hot sauce.              

A customer can pick up a jar of a Thai spice, grab some fishing worms and brake fluid and be out the door.

But if a customer is hungry for a gourmet delight, a few steps away is the deli and restaurant.

Hoover describes the deli, restaurant and general store as being on the cutting edge of synergism -- the dovetailing of all aspects of the business.

"Our long suit is that we're not professionals.  We have no background in the grocery store business or running a deli -- but America is the land of opportunity.

"That can be wonderful or terrible.  After all these years, we have decided, we have a pretty neat place here -- let's roll with it."