Taxi companies enjoy a thriving market in Homer

Josh Cooper purchased Kostas Taxi along with four cabs and currently employs 10 full-time drivers for seven-day-a-week, 24-hour service.

"I had the oldest cab company, and I am the oldest cab driver in town," Bairamis said in his trademark heavy Greek accent.

He explained that full retirement is complicated, because it would involve a break from Homer.

"We're building a house in Greece, so I'll go there, but I'll be here a lot too," he said. "Homer is more my home. I have more friends here than in my hometown (of Vathy). I keep my one cab. I drive it five or six nights a week."

There's apparently enough business in Homer to not only keep Bairamis from retirement, but also keep five taxi companies plenty busy.

Kachemak Cab operates four cabs and also employs about 10 people. Chux Taxi owner Shane John took on a new partner, co-owner Daryn Holmes, and plans on buying a third car. Newcomer Brandon Lovelace, spotting a need for another taxi out on the road while he worked for Kostas, started up a cab company of his own.

The advantage here for taxi companies is that there is no public transportation, so all state vouchers for rides are handled by the taxi companies. They also function as the town's delivery service, dropping off flowers, bringing groceries for shut-ins and delivering food from restaurants.

And they're also in the business of moving people around.

It was Baraimis who first started the free "New Years Eve service" in 2000. The program offered free rides home for all bar patrons who may have imbibed a bit too much on the holiday.

Josh Cooper, 29, plans to keep the tradition going by once again offering free rides on New Year's. Cooper is from an old Homer family (Baraimis married his aunt, Toy). His grandfather, John Cooper, operated the Kachemak Bowling Alley for much of its 50-year history, while his father, Mark Cooper, is the current operator of Kachemak Bowl.

Being part of Homer's history is something the younger Cooper is proud of as he and his wife welcome their first child in a few months. The current bowling alley was built where John and Phyllis Cooper had their first Homer home. Previously, the bowling alley, started in 1959 in Old Town, was a four-laner situated next to Duggan's. A parking lot now sits where the building once stood.

Another longtime taxi business operating in Homer is Kachemak Cab, owned by Chris Fischer.

Fischer first bought the business eight years ago from Richard Everett. He employs about nine people and also offers service seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

And while Homer doesn't have tight regulations on cabs, Fischer says the free-market system has worked well on its own.

"In Anchorage, they regulate all of it. They limit the number of taxis that can be on the street and they only let out so many permits," he said. "They don't do that here. The free market is operating the way it's supposed to. When I started here nine years ago, the charge was $1.50 per mile with a $3 minimum. Now it's $2.50 per mile and a $5 minimum. That's not much of a price increase."