Houston Hardware celebrates 40th anniversary

The store offers hardware and gardening supplies and has a large nursery and porch area that specializes in fertilizers, feeds and other outdoor supplies.

BONAIRE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Houston Hardware and Garden Center is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The store, located at 602 GA Highway 247, opened on July 19, 1982. It was housed in a small building built in 1911 but has since expanded into its current size.

The store offers hardware and gardening supplies and has a large nursery and porch area that specializes in fertilizers, feeds and other outdoor supplies.

Current owner Tom Williams recalls getting the establishment from its previous owner.

“He told me that he had a business he wanted me to look at,” he said.  “He said, ‘You would fit it perfectly,’ and I asked him, ‘What kind of business?’ And he threw his hands up, and I said, ‘You gotta be kidding me,’ and he said, ‘Nope.'”

Williams says that in the early days his big selling point was installing sprinkler systems in yards and teaching people how to do use them. Since then, the store has grown and given back to the community.

Williams used to host an annual turkey cookout the day before Thanksgiving. One particular year, he learned of a little girl who had cancer. He says her family needed financial help, so he used the turkey cookout as a fundraiser.

“In about three hours, we had raised about $17,000 to give to this family,” he said. “And those things is what I try to do for our community here.”

Houston Hardware also gives back by hiring high school students to help give them experience. Chris Tapia, who has worked for the store for five years, says he has gained a lot of experience from working in the nursery.

“I’ve gained a lot of knowledge about plants, more say than I would have probably learned on my own, and thanks to Tom and the store, I feel like I have the correct knowledge to give out to customers for their landscaping,” he said.