Regarding grocery stores, the loss of the Sunny Ray Superthrift grocery store (also known as Sunny Ray’s Grocery Store and Sunny Ray’s Market), and (Brown’s Grocery, also known as Main Street Market) that for a seemingly short-time that occupied Sunny Ray's former store after Baba Nanak purchased the property, left the community … stone-cold … without a brick-and-mortar grocer.

Fairfield Borough Secretary Susan Wagle recalled that Sunny Ray’s had previously been known as Newman's Super Thrift and was operated for many years by Thomas Newman and his brother William (from 1927 until 1983). Ray and Paula Williams subsequently purchased the property and established Sunny Ray’s, which continued in operation for 29 years until Ray William’s death.

"Not long after Ray Williams died," Wagle said, "the property was bought by its current owner, Baba Nanak LLC," further noting that the Baba Nanak firm also split the area inside the building to include room for the Market Street Grocery and a pizza business, "which seemed to be successful (but ultimately also closed)."

The old store has remained empty since, but there does appear to be some recent interest. An operation referred to as Brown’s Grocery filed in 2019 and has established a Facebook page. Pending the establishment of another grocery store, area residents are left with Dollar General and a convenience store, or shopping in Blue Ridge Summit, Emmitsburg, or Gettysburg, or on-line.

The same applies to shopping for hardware. Fairfield area’s only hardware store that had been I family-owned business for more than 50 years.

Paul and Judy Metz, parents of Dave Metz (who retired himself along with the family business), had founded and operated Metz's Hardware Store, which they operated for more than 50 years, having established the store in 1968. Dave Metz, who had operated the hardware store with his wife Judy after his father, Paul, died in 1999, retired himself and the business several years ago.

The former hardware store is now occupied by the Caterpillar Clubhouse, a childcare center established by Melissa and Joseph Cavey in 2020.

But the real enigma of vanishing entrepreneurs is the recent closure of the area’s only gas station … is the cessation of operations of the Sunoco gas and convenience store (which included a Subway eatery) on Fairfield Road, near the intersection at Iron Springs Road.

The 7-11-owned gas station, branded APlus, along with its "sister" Sunoco station on Fairfield Road at Deatrick Drive in Cumberland Township, just outside Gettysburg. Before 7-11 acquired the sites, the two businesses were Tom’s convenience stores.

Both 7-11-owned APlus stores were closed as of October 22. The stores have since been boarded-up and the gas-tanks contained in a metal-housing, and the APlus signs had been removed. The duo was part of a 116-store closure implemented by 7-11 at that time.

Again, as per the impositions created for groceries and hardware, the only gas service presently available to municipalities around Fairfield Borough are in Blue Ridge Summit, Emmitsburg, and the Gettysburg area.