The Mom & Pop Store - Plot

Plot

George is set to buy a 1989 Volvo 240 Sedan, but instead the car salesman talks him into buying a 1989 LeBaron convertible, said to be previously owned by Jon Voight, as George liked the idea of driving a car he thought was formerly owned by Jon Voight. Elaine wants to date Jerry's dentist, Tim Whatley. Kramer tells that a "Mom and Pop" shoe repair store is about to close, and convinces Jerry to lend him his sneakers to take them to the store, commenting that he has a Peter Pan complex on account of his persistence on wearing sneakers as casual footwear. While there Kramer's nose starts to bleed, leading him to notice the wires hanging out of the ceiling and suggest calling an electrician.

At Mr. Pitt's office Elaine is taking the salt off his pretzels while listening the radio. Mr. Pitt wants Elaine to guess an oldie song so he can win a ticket to hold the Woody Woodpecker balloon in the Thanksgiving Parade. The songs mentioned by Elaine, such as "Honeysuckle Jump by Artie Shaw," and "Next Stop Pottersville," are fictional and the titles and music were made up for the episode.

Jerry discovers that Kramer took all of his sneakers and left him with only a pair of cowboy boots. Elaine, George, and Kramer all get invitations to Whatley's Thanksgiving party but Jerry is uncertain whether he was invited or not.

While riding in formerly "Jon Voight's" car, Jerry notices a chewed pencil and the owner's booklet. The previous owner was actually John Voight, not Jon Voight. Jerry makes fun of George and gets kicked out the car; he then tries to run from some muggers but slips because of the boots, causing him to hurt his teeth. Jerry decides to crash the party where many dentists may be present.

Mom and Pop can't afford to bring the electrical installation up to the building code so they close the store and disappear with all of Jerry's sneakers. Elaine goes to pick up the ticket for Mr. Pitt but must sit through a loud performance by a live dixieland band before receiving it. While walking down the street, Kramer gets another nosebleed and sees Jon Voight (appearing as himself); when Kramer tries to ask Jon Voight about George's car, he gets bitten by him instead.

At the party Elaine still can't hear a thing because of the loud dixieland music, and inadvertently turns down a date from Whatley because she thought that he was just offering her nuts. Meanwhile, George and Kramer seek a dentist to match the bite marks on Kramer's arm with those on the chewed pencil. As it turns out, the previous owner of the car was not Jon Voight, the actor, but Dr. John Voight, a periodontist friend of Dr. Whatley. While trying to show his teeth to a dentist, Jerry accidentally pushes a small statue of the Empire State Building out the window and pierces the Woody Woodpecker balloon with Mr. Pitt (uninjured) under it.

Later, Jerry receives a call that Mom and Pop are selling his sneakers in a garage sale in Parsippany, New Jersey. Jerry and Kramer decide to head out there and confront Mom and Pop, but as Jerry's car is in the shop they take the bus instead. On their way to New Jersey, Kramer's nose starts bleeding again, in a scene parodying Midnight Cowboy (the film is also referenced earlier when George tries to croon Harry Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin'"):
"Everybody's talkin' at me
Can't hear a word they're sayin'
Just drivin' around in Jon Voight's car..."