Finding company with other longtime family hardware stores.
As a full-fledged centenarian in the home hardware business dating back more than 112 years, we at Bell & Bates Home Center occasionally run into a fellow traveler who has logged more than a hundred years of similar service.
Such is the case with Weakley-Watson Hardware in Brownwood, Texas, a family-owned business now in its 140th year of operation.
Weakley’s in 1878
It turns out that the original Mr. Weakley served with the Union army in the Civil War. After getting his discharge, Weakley rode down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, eventually heading westward into Texas, where he settled in Brownwood and opened a tin shop in 1876 that quickly became a general hardware store.
Early Bell & Bates
Both Bell & Bates and Weakley-Watson, while proud of their historical heritages, look for ways to be current in a changing industry: Bell & Bates with its online loyalty rewards program, Weakley-Watson offering online shopping. And while customers have changed over the years, both businesses have many generations of customers who return. They also share a common foe in the big box corporations that have invaded the family hardware scene.
“But,” says W-W fifth generation owner Mike Blagg, the great-great grandson of J.W. Weakley, “I also feel like those big boxes are losing their luster and people are turning back and going to smaller stores to get great service and help.”
Along with our fellow contemporaries in the family hardware business, we at Bell & Bates have learned a few things since we first opened our doors. We’ve fiercely guarded our independence by remaining with independent wholesalers throughout our long history. That means better choices for you and North Florida. Come visit our well-stocked store this spring at Bell & Bates, your true home center.
Bell & Bates Home Center
10 N. Duval St.
Quincy, FL 32351
(850) 627-6115
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