Hooper's Store - Mr. Handford and Carlo

Mr. Handford and Carlo

The enthusiastic Mr. Handford was a new character brought to the show exclusively to run the store, a change from the previous new managements of David and Gina, who started out as characters before store operators. This African-American man was a retired firefighter who bought the store to keep active.

Although Leonard Jackson played him in Season 21, he was then recast and David L. Smyrl took over the role. While Jackson portrayed Mr. Handford as something of a “grumpy old man” with little patience for his friends’ quirks, Smyrl made the character much more cheerful, friendly, and quite young at heart.

In 1991, Sully and Biff tried to hang a picture frame, but one blow from their hammer caused the entire woodwork of the store to fall apart. No one was hurt, but the store was ruined. Mr. Handford considered forgetting about the store, but everyone convinced him that they needed it, so they all pitched in to rebuild it.

A teenager named Carlo (played by Carlo Alban) first appeared in 1993 as one of Gordon’s students. In 1995, he was hired to work at the store.

Mr. Handford and Carlo ran the store until 1998 when the actors left the show. There was no on screen explanation to the characters' departures, though it's been cited that Mr. Handford had sold the store to Alan (played by Alan Muraoka) that year.