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It’s lunchtime at Franklin’s (True Value) Hardware Store on a Wednesday afternoon in Woodland Hills, CA and the parking lot behind the store is pretty full.
When you buy local, you’re shaping a brighter future for your community, your family and yourself. That’s an economic plan worth supporting.
When Frank Bonds purchased an old hardware store in Flora, Miss., he bought it with the intention of using the building for his construction company. After remodeling the building, Frank and his family saw a huge reaction from the community, asking if they planned on reopening the old hardware store.
For family-owned businesses, the statistics are daunting. According to the Family Business Institute, only about 30 percent survive beyond the founder’s generation, and just 12 percent make it to a third. For this small-business guide, we talked to the owners of several businesses that have beaten the odds.
It was 1927 when my grandfather, Robert Taylor, and four of his business partners opened Feed, Fuel and Building Supplies with $1,750 and an old Ford truck between them.
It began quietly, as an email to 40 friends. But when a steady stream of customers began coming through the door before the family-owned Chagrin Hardware had even opened for the day on Saturday, it was clear that it had turned into much more than that.
Though Price Hardware has been a family owned and operated business for more than six decades, they are anything but traditional. John and Carol Price are flipping the switch on the hardware industry – their store, once dedicated strictly to power tools, has recently welcomed tea kettles and china.
It’s the week of Thanksgiving and there’s a lot to look forward to: family, food comas and Small Business Saturday. Sure, the big boxes have a few great sales, but who really wants to go shopping at midnight after spending an entire day watching football and eating into oblivion? Here’s an idea – sleep in on Friday and celebrate Small Business Saturday at businesses like East Grand Fork Hardware.
Locally owned businesses know that to compete with the national chains they have to go the extra mile. Here’s a great example of one that does that.
