Work… the mechanical manifestation of energy, according to science. Work it could be said, is the “nuts and bolts “ of what we do each and every day. After all, nuts and bolts are not the whole of a project, they are only a portion of a project.
The successful concept of work today creates within the soul a feeling of pride, satisfaction of a job well done, and contribution back into your greater community in some type of capacity. Today I’m offering y’all an inside look at our hardware work… the “nuts and bolts” view of what we do each day.
Walking inside Wilkes County Hardware may take you back into a time of nostalgia… viewing our old building, wood stove, historic elevator, or even remembering a time when hardware stores used to be full service for the customer. We still do that each and every day. Our customers always come first! Customers are the essential element in our business, and that is why we are customer service oriented in what we do! Wilkes County Hardware is definitely more than a place to go pick up a few nuts and bolts.
They just don’t build them like this anymore, check out the size of those beams y’all! Elevator view from top down Wood stove heat keeps us moving and going in the winter months. Our nuts and bolts aisle
Yes, we have several folks who stop by to shop our extensive selection of nuts 🔩 and bolts… whether you are looking to purchase one or two or even multiple boxes. But did you know that we do the following things as well??
1. Key duplication
Wayne is a popular guy in our key area! We duplicate keys, rekey locks, can make chip keys … ask us if we can help you out with your key needs
2. Kerosene wick replacement
Wick repair is ongoing, unsure which wick you need? We can find that for you too! A work area for repairs like kerosene wick repair, tool repair, lamp repair
3. Threading and pipe cutting
Galvanized and black pipe threaded… if you have never done this, it is a labor intensive job and takes time to do it well. Kudos to Richard who does most of this laborious task.
4. Glass cutting up to 36 inches
This custom piece was recently done for a customer and it is ready to go!
5. Chain cut to exact length
Our display showcases the chain we have in stockand ready to go home with you! Measure twice, cut once… cut chain CAN NOT be returned please know how much you need before we cut it for you. Folks often ask about what we use our upstairs space for… we measure and cut chain, tubing, rope, do window screen repair, window glass cut, and pipe threading is all done upstairs.
6. Basic lamp repair
Have a lamp that is acting all weird.. we can fix it for you or you can do it yourself with these simple pieces Light bulbs, extension cords, fuses, and basic electrical supplies we will help you find what you’re looking for in order to get your to do list completed
7. Tool handle replacement
Replace your own if you wish! Or we can do it for you! Our lawn and garden section is usually a busy spot year round. Ask us if you have questions about a project, or product.
8. Pool water testing for free!
Pool water testing is always a good idea when you’re a pool owner Wilkes County Hardware keeps a variety of pool chemicals in stock for sale
9. Roll pipe cut to length (most hardware retailers sell the entire roll) and copper pipe
Roll pipe cut upstairs Copper cut to length or sold by roll Need to do a small plumbing repair? We can cut these to length as well This display is found on the plumbing aisle.
10. Gas and plumbing fittings … including a good selection of Pex and Shark Bite
Compression fittings and flared fittings of all sizes Our plumbing aisle is a bustling place on most days
11. Vast selection of furnace filters
Ask us and we will gladly help you find your size of furnace filter
12. Window screen repair
This is a basic list of our service offerings.
13. Knife and scissor sharpening
Working on a knife 🔪 for sharpening
As y’all can see we work hard to be a full service hardware store for our customers. Our goal is to keep our customers coming back to us for all of the things that they need for any project. Thank you for being a great part of what we do each and every day whether it is a purchase of nuts and bolts, a key or even a bag of bird seed. We couldn’t be here without you!
Coles bird seed has become a very popular item for our regular customers You need to clean it or scrub it, we can probably help you!! And we have locally sourced items too!!! Locally made soaps, candles, pottery, & woodworking Stop by and find some “Great Stuff” that you didn’t know existed inside our historic walls. Sorry for the pun y’all.
So there it is… the “nuts and bolts” of the hardware life daily work. Stop by and see us soon. We appreciate your support of our small business. YOU are the part that holds all of our work together in our nuts and bolts analogy. Thank you for joining us in our journey of the hardware life for the last seven years.
He is the gentleman who built the current building that houses our hardware store in 2022. Mr. Eller placed his business, as you may have guessed, in our current building on the corner of 10th Street and D Street in North Wilkesboro.
Wilkes County Hardware in November 2022
To our best known facts, the building dates back to 1905. Mr. EE Eller was a premier poultry & produce dealer in North Wilkesboro. EE Eller Produce Co. was one of the largest turkey, and chicken wholesalers. EE Eller was a major processing center for local farmers to bring turkeys/chickens into North Wilkesboro. Ironically, it was probably one of the first poultry processing plants in our town.
An artist rendering of Wilkes Hardware from several years ago
Farmers would literally herd their turkeys from down the mountains in Ashe, Watauga, and Alleghany Counties in order to collect the cash proceeds from their labor filled task.
Eller’s staff would process/sell their flock. Could you imagine the sight that it must have been??? All of the sudden the flock of turkeys appeared on the roads in Wilkes!!!! Men guiding them with corn along the way, flocks of turkeys gobbling, wobbling with wings flying everywhere!!!! I would imagine that the sight of this was pretty common in the early 1900’s in rural Wilkes County. I bet the turkeys never suspected any “fowl play” on their journey. The old newspaper article did say that one of the largest turkey drives that ever was processed by Mr. Eller was 1,500 turkeys in one drive!!!
Signage like this one marked the path for local farmers to EE Eller’s Produce House. Thanks to Jerry Dameron for sharing this photo collection with me.
Once a flock of turkeys arrived at EE Eller Produce, they were processed/ dressed for shipped via train. Our local train station was just down the street from our current store location. The train destinations were mostly in Northern states after leaving the North Wilkesboro station. According to local oral history, it is estimated that Mr. Eller processed at his height of business, 1 million chickens and turkeys!!!! Guess that was all “gravy” for him after that!!!!
I have written about the history of our store before but, new facts have come to light! Let’s “de-feather” this poultry truth!
To those loyal readers of my blog, this will be new information for you. All the “plucky” truth, as we know it… A few months back, we were lucky to have a few family members of Mr. Eller to drop in for a quick visit. Up high on the wall held 4 pictures of what we had thought were the past 4 owners of the building, but it was ultimately revealed that the charcoal drawing on the far left was not Mr. EE Eller.
Many of y’all know this was the Wall of Fame inside our hardware store… check the wall the next time you shop with us, it maybe a “feather” shorter than before Who really knows who this guy could be??? The truth is that we did not find any visible clues inside the frame or even on the back of this old charcoal drawing
Further reading and research has revealed that Mr. Eller moved from the corner of 10th and D Street building to Forester Avenue in 1941 to a larger location. Wilkes Hardware moved into the 10th Street location sometime later on, I haven’t been able to determine a definite date yet but we know it was sometime in the 1940’s.
It was fascinating to “pluck out” the facts about the origins of this historic building we currently reside in each day. As time allows, I’ll continue to research more about the history of Wilkes Hardware and even Mr. Eller. For now, I think we have “gobbled up” a few new fascinating facts about our historic past.
Hope I “beaked” your interest a bit in our history but just “winging it” and wishing y’all a very Happy Thanksgiving!
The Smithey Building has long been an anchor store on 10th Street. Our across the street neighbors for the last 7 years. Showcasing this 33,000 square foot building here in this early morning photo of Apple Festival from a few years ago A storm unloaded a lot of water onto our front sidewalks & back parking lot in a matter of 8 minutes! Some of our 10th Street neighbors experienced water inside their buildings after the rain. One marked component of the storm was intense lightning. The first capture of the flames from the fire on August 30, 2022 … Tuesday evening around 5:30pm as Richard & I saw the North Wilkesboro fire department pulling into 10th Street. Firefighters are quickly getting the hoses out and getting ready to work Wilkesboro firefighters also quickly responded to the fire and placed ladder truck into position The smoke was getting more intense. Businesses on the same side as Smithey’s began to move valuable goods to safer areas. Other business owners from 10th & Main Street were there to help. Cars were moved from 10th Street. It proved to be a challenge because of the firehoses, emergency vehicles, narrow openings, and difficulty finding a few of the car owners. Around 6:45pm NW police asked all businesses/residents of 10th Street to vacate buildings due to safety concerns. We stayed across the street at Dom’s Bakery. We felt we should stay as our livelihood was in danger. Firefighters were pushing a ton of water on the fire. Firefighters had to take the tanker trucks to nearby water towers to get more water. I think it was estimated that the fire consumed over 4 million gallons of water. It was at times, difficult to watch. The smoke billowing from the building. 11-12 different fire departments responded to the fire. The top floors have begun to fall through to the main floor of the Smithey building A fork-like piece of heavy equipment was used. It was interesting to watch it maneuver onto 10th Street in between the hoses and the buildings. Piercing through the old windows.. yes! The original facade was covered up with the existing Smithey exterior. Some of these firefighters have worked all day long and will continue to work into the late night Just no words.. 😢 Around 10:00-10:30 Wilkes Oil brought a truck to refuel the existing fire trucks. They have now been on scene for 5 hours. Richard & I spoke to the fire scene chief before we left for the night around 11pm. The fire was definitely under control and being well managed. The street would remain closed and we could open with back door access on Wednesday morning Firefighters worked all night long. Here’s a early morning photo from Wednesday morning. The extent of fire is quite visible. These hoses are HUGE!! At the height of the fire on Tuesday evening, firefighters had 4 different ladder trucks going at once!!! Wednesday morning, two remaining ladders are busy putting the flames down The buildings next door were very lucky that no substantial fire damage occurred. Water pouring through the roof Some of these firefighters had been on shift for over 24 hours.. working at fire department or other jobs. Exhausted but dedicated! Thank you! All ages of firefighters were on deck.. thanks for keeping our community safe. 📸credit: Monty 😊Bringing in the heavy equipment for demolition
Demolition started with the little corner building… the old gas station side
Building Demolition took only a few hours. We could feel a few vibrations during the demolition inside our building 10th Street was opened for full traffic by 5pm. All within 24 hours!!! The demo/ grading team has done an amazing job! The bricks seem to be a popular item for onlookers to stop by to take a piece of the building with them. We have heard many stories that so many people have shared with us over the last few days of experiences at Smithey’s Goodwill. A dear couple actually meet there and eventually married. 💕 We will miss our historic neighbors but looking forward to the next chapter that the new building will bring to our town, in whatever form. 📸 credit: Sonny
I can remember going into our local community grocery stores at Martin Cheek’s or Alexander’s Grocery and shopping for a quick “go to item” and coming back to the car with item in tow tucked inside a paper bag.
Easy tuck under your arm… carrying a paper bag
My memories of helping my mom carry in the groceries from the car, and not ONE of those bags was plastic y’all.
I maybe telling my age but, paper bags were the only option at the local grocery store. Over my lifetime, things shifted and plastic bags have become the standard.
Plastic bags are everywhere!
As we approach the beginnings of year SEVEN in the hardware business, I realized the other day that paper bags are ONE thing our customers have grown accustomed to with each purchase inside our historic, hardware walls. Yes, we hand stamp our name on each individual paper bag! Bag stamping is a routine part of what we do each week.
We hand stamp our paper bags… various sizes available
Processing and writing this blog post, I began to wonder… Are businesses that offer paper bags perceived by the consumer as a more “customer service friendly” small business???? Is the overall atmosphere somehow uniquely different from a business that only offers plastic bags at checkout????
Wilkes County Hardware, established long ago in our town center… finding a home on 10th & D Street after the legacy of EE Eller’s thriving business here in this building from 1905-1941.
Humor me please… Think about this for a minute… where do you currently shop where plastic bags are the norm???? Grocery stores, big box stores??? Can you think of other locations with plastic bags???
Just a question… hardware style
Reviewing my current own shopping habits, I recall several stores in our area use plastic over paper bags. Good versus bad, paper or plastic, that is not a bone of contention that I’m undertaking today in the blog post. But, I must admit, I do love a good paper bag! And I do frequent some small shops that offer paper bags over plastic, which is part of the reason why I love these shops! But I must admit, it’s more than the paper bag, it is simply the overall shopping experience.
Y’all, don’t you feel a bit special with a cute paper bag from your purchase? It’s like the shop owner has taken a bit of extra pride, and care into their own livelihood. And marketing that small,unique business with the paper bag. Paper bags are easy for gift giving, reusing, or even recycling.
Our selection of paper bags ranges from small to larger size with handles
Further into my reflection, I would like to dive into & explore a tad more into my thoughts about the “atmosphere” in a business with paper bags at checkout versus plastic. Here’s a story I would like to share with y’all today…
I needed a couple of baby gifts, and I wanted to give each one a special gift. I stopped into, A Baby Celebration in our local downtown area. The shop was packed full of all sorts of sweet baby stuff!
A Baby Celebration, a sweet little baby shop in Downtown North Wilkesboro
As I finished up my purchases at the baby store, I’m thinking in my mind, now I need to gift wrap these and get these gifts to the new soon to be parents. It was almost like the owner read my mind. Maybe she sensed my stress of gift wrapping…having to head out to find the perfect gift wrapping paper or gift bag to place these sweet gifts into. But, that wasn’t the case! The owner then quickly pointed up to the display wall and she asked me to select a gift bag for each gift. I was tickled pink, and it was included in my visit!!! Customer service at its best y’all!
My point is, shopping small businesses can often come with perks you may not often be aware of! Shopping at small businesses, not only can you find quality merchandise, amazing service, friendly atmosphere, gift wrapping, & yes, even paper bags!
Our classic brown paper bag
Which brings me back to the thought of what could customers infer from small businesses where paper bags are standard?
In my mind, my inference about small businesses that offer that simple, classic paper bag is often a way to keep customers coming back into your store. Customers tend to associate such memorable things with your business… that cute paper bag you carefully placed items into, the excellent customer service you provided, or even the amazing products offered inside your store.
A view inside our hardware store
Regardless of whether it is the paper bag, or other reasons, as a small business owner, you want your customers to return often & regularly.
So y’all might be wondering why did we choose paper bags over plastic? Here’s our answer:
We quickly decided against plastic and opted for paper, check out our reasons why…
1. Nostalgia, when y’all enter our building you have literally stepped back into time. The age of our building dates back to the early 1900’s. We are offering our customers such an experience. I’ll call it, The Paper Bag Experience, stepping back into a time where life was a bit simpler, friendly service, shopping in an “old school”hardware store with the classic brown paper bags as standard fare for packaging.
Wilkes County Hardware is a classic old hardware store with the wood stove, working freight elevator, ladder wall and much more!
2. Classic Sophistication, let’s face it, a sweet,,little paper bag is much cooler than a slinky plastic bag😂 right???
3. Social responsibility, Paper bags have a few advantages over plastic when it comes to sustainability. Paper bags are recyclable and biodegradable.
4. Marketing to our customers, our goal is to ensure that every customer feels special! What is more unique & special than a stamped paper bag with our logo information on it???
5. One cool impact of using paper bags in our hardware store, paper bags are often used for gift giving.
In closing, the psychology behind paper v. plastic may not be resolved in this blog post today, but we are thankful that our customers keep returning and continue to support our small business at Wilkes County Hardware.
Richard & I truly appreciate your patronage as we launch into year SEVEN of the hardware business. The Paper Bag Experience has been impactful inside our historic walls. Shopping at Wilkes County Hardware is a definitely a unique experience. Whether you come for nostalgia, love of hardware stores, or locally sourced goods, we can neatly tuck them into a classic brown paper bag as you leave the checkout.
As always, thanks for reading & sharing my blog. I really appreciate my followers and your kind words. Thanks 😊
Living the "hardwarelife", join us in our journey of hardware store ownership
The Hardware Life - A wife's journey into the hardware business 