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Hardware Store Life

S’agapo

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These are the Greek words for “I love you”- S’agapo…

💝February might be the season of love, but to those people who model & live this way each and every day, it is beautiful to witness.

Richard and I were honored with the presence of one such person, Harry Galifanakis. He exemplified these words… S’agapo.

Harry loved life, each and every day. Harry was a dear husband to his sweet wife, a great family man, and cared deeply for his surrounding community. We all miss his love.

Harry spent a lot of time with us at Wilkes County Hardware. He was our resident advisor, & he greeted all of our customers with a smile. Harry would sit and talk with those who would take time to sit down with him while he rocked in his chair. He loved conversations, people, and in general terms, living a simple life.

Harry gave us love each and every day. I know in my heart in the first year of ownership of Wilkes County Hardware, he gave Richard confidence to keep going, pressing on to do what needed to be done, changing the layout of the store, & adjusting to running a small business. Harry was one of our biggest supporters and we are eternally grateful for his love and friendship.

In the second and third years of ownership, he became an honorary family member. He was never far from our minds or hearts. Richard & I worried if he was sick, wished him safe travels while off visiting family, and couldn’t wait to hear his stories upon his joyous return. Harry always called us if we were on a trip, away from the store to just to say “hello”& to make sure we were happy, eating well and of course, having fun! 😎

Throughout the last few years, Harry shared many stories about his Greek heritage, & the rich love he had his family… it just exuded from him. He loved his family, nothing made him more happy than his family. Harry always loved to throw out Greek phrases as he spoke about his family.

Over time, Harry began to even teach Richard some of those phrases… the first one he taught him was S’agapo. Harry said to him, “this is what you tell your wife everyday”. Harry loved to see Richard try his new Greek speaking skills out on me as I entered the store. It was sweet and precious on many levels.

We all spent many days laughing with Harry and please know that your loving kindness and friendship will always be central in our hearts.

S’agapo Harry❤️❤️❤️❤️

Hardware Store Life

Snow Days⛄️

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Last week brought to us in Wilkes, the anticipation of snow. What we did not realize at that time was the impact of the coming winter storm. When in conversation with my brother in law, who works for the National Weather Service, he used the words “Epic Snow Storm” , and “this will a Storm people would talk about for years to come… ” I began to let the impact of this storm to settle into my mind. Preparation would be key. Richard & I began to evaluate our current winter weather supplies & those items that were blowing off the shelves early in the week.

Customers flooded into Wilkes County Hardware beginning about Tuesday of last week in preparation of the upcoming winter storm, daily sales had increased.

Knowing the storm was going to settle into our area by the weekend, we had already processed the timeline of our regularly scheduled truck shipment… it would not be here until after the storm had passed😳. The real possibility of the truck not showing up on our regular delivery day was looming in our minds as well, if the “Epic winter storm” was as bad as my brother in law had said it could be.

These are the worries of local merchants… planning for unpredictable weather and its impact on how you do business each & everyday. Mother Nature is unpredictable.. you can’t always plan for these types of events, but keeping a close eye on your inventory is key during peak weather months.

Richard was evaluating our store stock/supplies daily and we realized quickly that we needed a “stock boost” to get us through the storm. Richard & I talked back and forth about how much of each item we might need, trying to not overbuy for this event, which would tie up inventory dollars. So we submitted an order to our local supplier and another truck arrived Friday.

Once that shipment showed up, people were buying items off the truck immediately! The news of the winter weather was becoming evident to most people… they were planning for a huge storm.

Wilkes was predicted to be in the heaviest snow zones- at least 12 inches or more!!! Our hardware store was slammed with customers on Friday and Saturday!

Our local news station, WXII, called on Friday morning saying they were planning to stop by our store. Richard gave them a great interview and made it on the local news Friday night. I was so tickled to see him represent our store so beautifully.

The sweetness of my husband showed as he spoke about “our store”. (Even though I am not there everyday, and I hold another full time job as a teacher.)

He made sure to tell the local news crew that he was not the sole owner of Wilkes County Hardware. Sometimes it is the simple things that make you appreciate & love your spouse- after 20 plus years of marriage.

After the store closed Friday evening, we decided to make our winter storm preparations complete by filling up the car with gas, last trip to grocery store, etc. Richard’s phone began to message in from lots of people who saw him on the news.

What we didn’t expect was the range of our local impact would be! He heard from friends across the US who were seeing him on local broadcasts across the nation. Evidently the Weather Channel picked up a segment of his interview. By Saturday morning, our store front was on the Today Show in a brief segment on the upcoming storm!!

This news arrived to me as I was out walking on the Greenway, with my friend, when Richard called me to say we had made it on the Today Show! I was blown away. Here we were just carrying on with our routines, of a normal Saturday … he was already at work & I was to be there to help at the store, after I had finished my morning walk.

As customers came in all day Saturday, the conversation around the warm wood stove was of course the coming snow storm , Christmas shopping, and Richard’s tv appearances.

The guys helped every customer, each with their own unique needs. Demand had been so intense all week, that we were now out of stock in some items. So our staff made recommendations to those customers who needed help finding the items they still needed for winter storm prep.

Saturday was an awesome day, not because it was a great selling day, but the closeness of our community. We saw so many of our loyal customers arrive with flashlights 🔦 that needed batteries or bulbs, & requests of last minute items for storm prep. Our staff worked to make each a every customer happy.

What a great community we live in!!! We had cookies 🍪 delivered to us, and great friends brought in lunch snacks!!! Richard & I are definitely blessed beyond measure.

It was so awesome to see our friends & customers gather at the wood stove for conversation and smiles. This is why I love snow days!! ⛄️❄️

(By the way, we received over 15 inches of snow here Saturday night/Sunday!) Yes, in my book, it was an “Epic Storm” for us in Wilkes County Hardware History.

Hardware Store Life

Thanksgiving Blessings and Memories…

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Most of the leaves are gone off the trees now here in Wilkes. You can still spot a few beautiful trees along your daily path like this lovely one in the photo today. The “season of sticks” is now upon us! Thanksgiving week is coming up next week which brings me to reflect upon the many blessings we have been given. In reflection, I used to hate this time of year after the leaves 🍁 🍁🍁🍁fall because of the barren look of the trees. This year, I’m reframing my vision to call it the “season of sticks”. Who did not love walking in the woods as a kid picking up and finding the best walking stick?

I’m also blessed with many special family and friends who are an essential part of my life. We are truly blessed to be a part of a great community here in Wilkes County and are so happy to be of service to our customers everyday. Thank you for your continued support of our store. Richard & I wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving.

Many great Thanksgiving memories are coming to mind…. Raking leaves 🍁 on Thanksgiving before the big meal, Benjamin’s always used to ask Dad to ride on the golf cart & to go hunt for turkeys before Thanksgiving😂. My Dad always humored him & they rode through the neighborhood, checking the wooded areas carefully for any signs of “native wildlife”. Benjamin is growing up too quickly & that tradition is long gone but the memories are long lasting.

Happy Thanksgiving 🍁 to you & your family from Wilkes County Hardware ! Enjoy making some new Thanksgiving memories this year 😊.

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Hardware Store Life

Wood Stove

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It is an all encompassing feeling of warmth and memories. Time spent circled around the wood stove at Wilkes County Hardware -feeling the heat from the fire, warming up your hands and cold noses from the cold, outside air. The smell is distinctive- burning hardwood, and the lovely “smoky” smell it creates in the store. The wood stove is an iconic part of our legacy and our history. It has definitely kept that “Old School Hardware” feel in place for our customers and myself as a business owner.

The wood stove is definitely one of the most recognizable features within our store that people initially see once they walk in the front entrance. No matter what time of year it is, those who have never visited our store always ask about the wood stove. It is definitely an “Oldie Goldie “. Questions range from “Does it still work?” to “How old is it?”

Most people are surprised to find out the wood stove is WCH’s main source of heat in the winter! It cranks out a great deal of heat for the store. But if you wander into the far corners of the hardware store, you will sense the difference… it takes longer for the heat to travel there. Of course, the closer you are to the stove, you have to be very careful to make sure that you don’t put anything too close to the wood stove that would melt.. yes, chocolate 🍫 does not stand a chance around the stove!

Our wood stove is regularly cleaned, polished, and maintained in order to keep it in the best possible condition for daily use in the cooler weather.

We do keep a nice woodpile out behind the store so we can keep the “store fires” burning and our customers comfortable while they shop for essentials. We do have a few regular customers who purchase wood from us during cooler weather for fire pits/ s’mores, and camping fun. All of our wood is bought from local sources. Richard & I like to purchase products from our neighbors in our community.

The wood stove dates back to the early years of our building. Our building is over 💯 years old, dating back to 1904!! The original stove was a coal stove and it was eventually converted into a wood burning stove. We have been told that the stove may date back to the 1920’s. This is one great thing about our store that I love… it is deeply rooted in local history.

What I also love about this stove is the power of community it holds for our town. People use it as a central gathering place to discuss daily news, and local events. Often our regular customers will come sit around the stove and just rock for a little bit before heading back out into the cold weather.

Yes, our wood stove/ store has become a great “stopping off point” for local downtown events in the winter where our customers can drop by to warm by the fire before a horse carriage ride, or just to wait and warm before for the Christmas parade is to begin.

To me, nothing is better in the cold, and snowy day to be warming around the wood stove. Many of our customers know we will be open and we will have the fire roaring. Many locals seek to visit with us on these days. Honestly, these are my favorite days.. the snow days around the wood stove at Wilkes County Hardware.

We have had a few local media broadcast/advertising folks to showcase our store via the wood stove as a centerpiece. I guess it is just that “Old School ” way of gathering around and slowing down in the busy world we live in today. Even in 2018, people are doing the “Old School ” way of going back to our roots/heritage— community building.

I’m glad we can be a small part of building a great community here at Wilkes County Hardware, wood stove or no stove… we are all in for the “Old School” Hardware life.

Hardware Store Life

The Chicken Hat

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Earlier this week Richard told me that we had a visit from a local hardware store owner, out of our county. As Richard put it, he wanted to see that Chicken hat that everyone was talking about. Wow! I was blown away!!!

Working towards a great logo can be daunting for a new business. A great logo is one of the biggest marketing tools that can connect your customers to your store/brand.

As new business owners, we did get some great advice from fellow business owners to be very purposeful when selecting colors and a logo to connect to our customers and our store. We have tried to heed this great advice, and have used our great neighbors down the street, Cook’s Inc to help us through the process.

Over the last few years, we have really stuck with a classic gray color for a branding color. Why??? Many reasons actually—-our store has concrete floors, which has served many purposes in our building- chicken processing plant, & as a hardware store. I think that the gray is a great compliment to that old rustic hardware store feel as well, so the color is ours to stay.

Back to the chicken hat… The story of the Chicken Hat is a journey of logo selection over the last few years. We have been working diligently with our neighbors down the street- Cook’s Inc, to select a great logo for a baseball cap 🧢. Our initial designs were very simple with the gray cap and a patch logo with our store name.

Brooke, who works for Cook’s, always challenges me to keep taking our logo to the next level. So as we were meeting one afternoon, we came up with a new design… a chicken, with red, white, blue flag inside it. The hat is of course that dark classic gray… (our best seller)

How did we arrive at this? We were trying to connect our logo hat to our store history. In the end, Richard and I have been super pleased with this new hat. I think we have achieved success with this new logo hat.

As I write this, we have chicken hats that have traveled all over the United States, and Australia. Even our local state legislator wears his to Raleigh and has gotten several great compliments on his hat. Of course, I keep telling him— tell the story about your hat… Our legacy of our store can be told and shared.

Here is our story…

Our building dates back to the early 1900’s. The building was used as a poultry processing plant for turkeys, chickens, etc. These animals were literally herded down the mountain and pushed into our store and processed. They were then loaded up on the railroad, which is just down the street and taken out of town. High estimates are close to 1 million chickens & turkeys were processed in our building in a years time at the height of production.

Maybe it is sometimes the story that helps you brand yourself, maybe it is the story that folks will remember… it could be a little bit of both.

I’m not sure if our neighbor hardware store really found what he needed the other day…. what the deal is with that chicken hat, but we sure love it here at Wilkes County Hardware. I hope his curiosity was satisfied.