The mother and son owners of Pairott Head Liquor stand hand in hand smiling at the camera inside their store.

A SPECIAL MOTHER-SON BOND

It started at a Pitt State football game. 

Kevin Fry was talking to friends, discussing the future, talking jobs and dreams. 

“I was working in the funeral home business at the time,” Fry said, “and I just happened to mention that I always thought it would be fun to work in the liquor business. I’m not sure why. It’s just something I always wanted to do”

Standing a few feet away was someone whose parents knew the then-owners of Pairott Head Liquor in Pittsburg. Word on the street is they were ready to sell the business. 

The next call was to the bank, and here we are.

“This was November of 2015,” Fry said. “In April of 2016, I got the call that the owners were ready to move forward with selling. So the next call I made was to my mother to ask if she wanted to own a liquor store with her son.

“The next call was to the bank, and here we are.”

Fry and his mother, Denise Grasso, have owned and operated Pairott Head since December of 2016. They had talked before about owning a business together, but they didn’t expect to sell alcohol.

“I was working at Greenbush at the time, and we had always joked about owning a business together once I retired,” Grasso said. “We thought maybe we’d own a funeral home together. So when Kevin called me to ask if I wanted to do this, I was in. I thought it would be a lot of fun and very meaningful doing it with my son.”

A man reaches for a bottle of liquor in Pairott Head Liquors.

The mother-son partnership works well because they’ve always had a strong bond.

Neither had previous retail experience, nor did they know anything about selling booze.

“But we both know how to work,” Fry said. “We have strong work ethics. Right away, we went to work teaching ourselves how to run a liquor store. We’re very lucky to have a great team with us, as well. We couldn’t have done this without the team here. No way.”

Both said the mother-son partnership works well because they’ve always had a strong bond between them.

“Kevin and I have always been close,” Grasso said. “We’ve had a strong relationship since he was a little kid. Not every son wants to grow up and spend every day working with his mom, but we love it.”

Fry said he’s a “lucky guy” to have a mom like Grasso.

“She’s my best friend, she really is,” he said. “I am so blessed to have been raised by great parents and now to get this opportunity to own a business together … it’s just a dream come true.”

Pairott Head is located at the corner of 19th and Broadway.