Community Investments Protect Local Amenities

Randy Rich didn’t aspire to become a hardware retailer, run for mayor or buy a grocery store. But just like his 23-year-long service with the local volunteer fire department, he saw needs and volunteered to help.

Rich is the owner of Rusty Nail Hardware in Oblong, Illinois, a rural community with a population of less than 1,500 residents located in southeast Illinois. Oblong is Rich’s hometown, and is where he has spent most of his life working, raising his family and living as a citizen who cares about the people and the community.

He considers Rusty Nail Hardware, which is the only home improvement store in the area, to be an important village amenity.

When prior owner Larry Kirts told him, “If you’re going to buy anymore hardware stuff here, you’re going to have to buy the place,” Rich took him seriously. He thought owning the hardware store would fit well with his existing construction business and help him protect the local economy.

“To me, small business is what drives the country,” Rich says. “Losing a store hurts every business in town. We don’t have a whole lot of businesses, so we don’t want to lose a single one of them.”

Loyal to Home

Rich was born and raised near Oblong and his heart has long been invested in helping the area thrive. Operating businesses, employing local people and getting involved in village government have been key ways he has poured his time, effort and money into his community.

Starting in high school, Rich worked for a local auto parts store and eventually began building homes on the side. He went on to marry Andrea, his high school sweetheart, and when they began raising their two daughters, Rich realized working two jobs took him away from his family more than he wanted.

Rich enjoyed homebuilding, working with friends on job sites even after 12-hour workdays at the auto parts store, so he decided to make construction his focus.

He went into custom homebuilding full time, eventually running his own construction company. And because he wanted to support other local businesses, during his time as a homebuilder, he often bought supplies from Rusty Nail Hardware’s prior iteration, Ablinger & Kirts in Oblong.

Rusty Nail Hardware originally opened as a lumberyard in the 1920s and served residents and contractors in the community for about 50 years when Kirts bought it in the 1970s. Kirts was the owner Rich saw regularly when he stopped in at the store to buy supplies for his construction jobs.

Kirts’ plan to sell his operation to an employee fell through, so he was serious when he told Rich that he would need to buy the store if he wanted to keep it open and continue purchasing supplies there.

Rich realized his homebuilding business would save money if he could buy products wholesale through his own store. In addition, running the store could become a retirement option for him when the time came to stop building custom homes. Serving store customers would allow him to use the knowledge he had gained in construction without taking the physical toll on his body that construction work required.

The store would also be a means to provide ongoing opportunities to employ local people and serve the community. Kirts was operating a profitable store, so Rich also knew the opportunity to buy the operation was a good one.

“It was a solid business. When I see something good, I’m not afraid to take chances,” Rich says.

He bought the store in 2001 and renamed it Rusty Nail Hardware. Kirts was ready to retire before Rich wanted to stop building homes, so Andrea managed the store full time while Rich continued working at construction sites. Prior to joining the business full time in 2016, Rich frequently worked at Rusty Nail Hardware during his lunch breaks.

His familiarity with the industry and the store made for a smooth leadership transition when Rich closed down his homebuilding business and replaced Andrea as the Rusty Nail Hardware owner-operator.

“I get a lot of building questions because I was a builder for so long. That’s what made the transition so good, so simple,” Rich says. “Everybody knew I was well-versed in construction and I have quite a bit of knowledge about building a house.”

In 2014, Rich partnered with other area business owners to buy Oblong’s only grocery store, acquiring it for the same reason Rich bought the hardware store: To keep it open for the sake of the community. Andrea was more interested in selling groceries than hardware, so when Rich stopped building houses, she began managing Village Market on Main.

Choosing Public Service

Helping Oblong thrive has been an ongoing effort for Rich. In addition to operating local businesses, he has served on the village’s volunteer fire department for 23 years.

He also was a member of the village council before he became convinced he and three other community members could make a bigger difference for Oblong if they worked together as elected officials.

They saw that the lack of clear leadership on the village council and conflict between council members was making it difficult for Oblong to fund key infrastructure repairs that mattered to residents.

Rich served three four-year terms as mayor and discovered that both homebuilding and working at Rusty Nail Hardware gave him the flexibility for daytime meetings when necessary. While he was mayor, he helped fund and oversee projects to improve sewer systems, streets and storm drainage.

“Preservation of the village is what we got on there for,” Rich says. “We’re a little community. We need to get along and make things work. We need everyone involved in this town to work together to make things work.”

Focusing on the Store

After finishing his third term as mayor in 2015 and joining the business full time the following year, Rich developed a plan for improving and growing Rusty Nail Hardware. A full remodel has been in the works for five years.

Rich already tore down a suspended ceiling in part of the building to give the space an attractive vaulted ceiling and was able to add 1,200 square feet to the salesfloor by reorganizing the facility.

He plans to add an additional 2,000 square feet by repurposing some warehouse space. When completed, the salesfloor will be about 8,000 square feet.

Remodeling the whole store, inside and out, was already underway, but the COVID-19 pandemic slowed progress. In 2020, business picked up too much for Rich to also juggle renovations along with running the business.

“We couldn’t do anything but serve customers,” he says.

During 2021, Rich was able to move forward with the store remodel and make plans with his wholesaler to expand his product mix significantly. Paint and plumbing are the store’s top-selling categories, and the store carries the other core hardware categories as well. Nearby lumberyards sell lumber and building materials, but not the hardware product mix Rich offers. Rich expects to double the number of products his store carries, providing more options in all of his existing categories.

“I dabble in a lot of different types of products but don’t have depth, so we’re looking to add depth to everything I’ve got,” he says. “If we’re not growing, we’re going to get left behind.”

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