Wilkes County Hardware “Hall of Fame” wall seems to draw attention from locals and visitors alike. These photos of the previous owners line the wall near our checkout counter.

It’s also a great way to reveal to our customers a little bit of story history. Here’s your short history lesson today, Wilkes County Hardware style.

The far left picture is Mr. Eller. He ran EE Eller Produce in the early 1900’s. Chickens and turkeys were herded down the mountains into our building, processed, packed on ice, placed on the railroad down the street & headed out for sale.

The second one from the left is Mr. Yates. He began the hardware store in the 1940’s. He kept basic “supplies” for his moonshine buddies so they could keep production going. The hardware store buzzed with constant activity in our downtown area.

The third picture is Harvey Barlow. His picture was designed to look like Mr. Eller’s. Many locals still know Harvey, he owns & operates the lock shop next door to us. He actually owned the hardware store for several years. Believe it or not, we still have folks who come in looking for him, thinking he still owns the store 😳. That’s when you know they haven’t been in our store in a while…

The last picture is Gerald Lankford. He owned the hardware store for the 10 years prior to our ownership. He grew the pool business inside our store exponentially, & graciously passed down the history of the building to us. We are very blessed & thankful to him for his wisdom & kindness.

Once the store history unravels, many folks ask when will we put our picture up on the wall.

The traditional answer is always the same, our picture will go up when we sell the store. It’s just part of our legacy.