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Charles
E. Jones passed away in 1936, leaving the business to his eight children
and his brother William. In 1937, the company was reorganized and
incorporated. At this time, William sold his interest to the children of
Charles, and they became the sole owners and stockholders of Jones
Hardware Company.
Robert E. Jones eventually assumed presidency of the corporation. While
remaining in the retail hardware business, the company grew into a large
wholesale hardware distributor with sales encompassing several
surrounding counties. Also at this time, a department selling major
appliances was added to the store. The active members of the of the
Jones family who were involved in the business were: Robert E. Jones,
President; Charles E. Jones, Jr., Vice President; Francis B. Jones,
Secretary-Treasurer and Manager of the Appliance Department, and William
B. Jones, Director and Department Manager. Other members of the family,
while remaining stockholders, left the business to pursue careers of
their own.
The corporation grew strongly during the war years and those proceeding
it. During this period, Robert had two sons, Robert Jr. and Patrick. As
they grew up, both became active in the business when he became older.
In 1964, after the untimely death of Francis B. Jones, his son Thomas
assumed duties as head of the Appliance Department and
Secretary-Treasurer of the corporation.
The corporation continued to grow during the period with employment
rising to about 40 people with three outside salesman to handle the
wholesale trade.
Also during this period of time, the corporation acquired additional
properties surrounding the main building. They were utilized for
warehousing and storage areas for increasing inventory. In 1968, Robert
B. Jones passed away following his two brothers Charles and Francis.
The corporation had gone into the hands of the third generation of the
Jones family. Thomas being elected President, Patrick, Vice President,
and Robert Jr. as Secretary-Treasurer. Other members of the second
generation of the family still remained in the business as stockholders
and directors. The three youngest members of the Jones family came in
control after acquiring a good working knowledge of the business, and
all graduated college with various business degrees. The corporation
again continued to show strong growth during this period with sales
doubling through the period of the sixties.
In 1972, after the untimely death of Patrick Jones, Robert Jones assumed
the office of Vice President along with that of Secretary. Realizing
that the wholesale hardware business was being taken over by the large
dealer-owned cooperatives, the management shifted their attention to the
retail side of the business. In this period, while watching the influx
of mass merchants and new shopping malls spring up around itself, the
management of Jones Hardware felt the need to expand the retail business
by moving into the outskirts of town. Seeing the exciting growth of the
do-it-yourself market during this period, the decision was made to open
the Shamokin areas first full-featured Home Center. In 1978, Jones
Hardware Company purchased the old Acme market building on Route 61
South of Shamokin. The building was fully renovated and new lines of
kitchens, building materials, lumber and floor coverings, were added.
The Company continues to operate the 20,000 square foot Home Center
along with its retail store in downtown Shamokin.
In 1980, Robert F. Jones was elected President of the corporation and
continues today in that capacity. Present management and employees of
Jones Hardware Company have and will continue to follow the policy of
its founder to serve their customers by offering good quality
merchandise at a fair price.
Jones ACE Home Center is #1. In 1997 was a great year for Jones Hardware
Company. Jones ACE Home Center won the ACE President’s Cup, the most
prestigious award given by ACE Hardware.
In
October of 1997, at the Los Angeles ACE show, Jones Home Center was
voted best Home Center in 1997. Bob Jones, owner and president, went to
the show knowing his store was 1 of 6 stores from 6,082 ACE stores
worldwide to win the ACE National Six Star Award for excellent customer
service and high retailing standards
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Out
of the six stores that qualify, 3 are Home Centers and 3 are Hardware
Stores. So Bob Jones knew his store was at least the 3rd best
Home Center in the USA.
At the end of the ACE Hardware Show in October 1997, Jones Home Center
was voted the best of the best.
Bob
Jones said, “It was all the staff members at both stores that made
this possible. Everyone came together and everyone deserves to have this
award. It shows how hard our employees work in Northumberland County! We
have been striving to get to this level for a long time, and now we
finally reached the level we are capable of operating at.
In
1999 Jones Hardware purchased its 3rd location in Herndon, PA.
Jones Hardware acquired the hardware store formally known as Meckley's
Farm Supply.
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