Fondren's Hardware is among the few family-owned hardware stores left in this area.
Brothers Ronnie and Joe Fondren along with their mother "Mrs. Fondren," and nephew Scott Fondren run the store, which has been a family-owned and family-operated business for 50 years. Fondren's Hardware has not only been in business for 50 years but has been in the same Main Street location for 50 years.
"Fondren's has always been a hardware store," Ronnie Fondren explained. "We are one of the last surviving small town hardware stores there are. It started with our father, Jessie Fondren. "He was a traveling salesman for another wholesale hardware company. He always wanted his own store so in 1960 he opened up this store. He continued to travel and we had other people working for us managing the place. I got out of the service in 1970 and started working here full time. I have been here ever since. A family business nowadays is a dying breed. Most kids don't want to work six days a week -- they want a 9 a.m. -5 p.m. job five days a week."
Ronnie's brother Joe came into the business in 1978 when their father passed away. He worked part-time at the hardware store while working full-time at the fire department. In 1999 when he retired from the fire department, Joe became a full-time employee of Fondren's Hardware. The two brothers say working together isn't hard because they know who is in charge.
"Mom tells us when to shut up and she oversees the operation," Ronnie said.
"She works part-time," Joe said. "She comes in the mornings and during lunch hour and leaves around 1 p.m."
When asked if big chain stores such as Walmart or Lowe's affects their business the Fondrens said, "no."
"Our business fluctuates," Ronnie said. "I will have to say the past five or six years has been really good to us. Blytheville and the people of Blytheville have always been good to us. The biggest thing that has affected our business with Walmart is housewares. We used to sell quite a few household goods. As far as hardware goes, no, the big chain stores haven't affected our business. We sell service here. We put things together, we tell you how to fix it and we help however we can. People can come here, get what they want, and be back home before they could even get out to Lowe's and once they get there they have to walk the store over looking for what they need. Like I said, we offer service."
Customer Robert Davis agrees saying, "One thing I can say about them (Fondren's Hardware) is that they have some of the best service in the world. I think that is why people come here because they know they are going to get in and get out they don't have to go around 20-30 minutes to find something -- they get up and help you right away."
Fondren's Hardware, like some other businesses on Main Street, carry their own charge accounts. Ronnie says the store believes in the old fashion philosophy that a man's handshake is his word. The two are often surprised at how many people don't realize what all they sell.
"You would be surprised at how many people have been here all their lives and come in and say 'well, I didn't know you had that,' " Joe said.
"Or I didn't know they still made those," Ronnie said. "Like a wash board for example -- people come in all the time and say I didn't know they still made those. We carry a wide range of items from plants, to plumbing, to nuts and bolts. If we don't have it we have a catalog where we can order it and have it here within three days. We sell a lot of cast iron cookware. It lasts a lifetime. Here several years ago when Polaroid cameras were in style we had a guy open up his kitchen sink take a picture of the plumbing and bring it in and say this is what I need. We helped him figure it out. People come in and say I need one of theses or it does this and we can figure it out and help them. We have sometimes had to follow them home and look at the problem ourselves to help figure it out. If you don't know what you want or if you need something out of the ordinary go to Fondren's -- if we don't have it we can fix something up for you that works."
Ronnie said being in the hardware business is like being a doctor. He said people don't go to the doctor unless there is something wrong and they don't go to the hardware store unless something needs to be fixed.
"My favorite part is helping people," Ronnie said. "We fix their problems."
It is that kind of customer service that has kept Fondren's Hardware in business for 50 years. Ronnie says when the business first started there were about five hardware stores on Main Street now Fondren's is the only one left.
"We would like to see this business last forever but nothing lasts forever," Ronnie said. "Eventually things stop. We don't have plans of retiring anytime soon or closing anytime soon but eventually there will come that day."
Ronnie said thanks to state funding, Greater Blytheville Area Chamber of Commerce funding, and former Main Street Director Anita Parrett, the storefront was updated about two years ago.
"God bless Anita Parrett -- she brought life back to Main Street," Ronnie said. "We feel like a part of Main Street. We have deep roots here on Main Street. We don't know anywhere else but this store."
Fondren's Hardware is open six days a week and the Fondren family invites all those who have never been in the store or those who haven't been in lately to stop by and see what they have to offer.
czolman@blythevillecourier.com