What Are You Thankful For?

The month of November is busy for retailers and consumers alike. Most shoppers are out looking to score deals on holiday gifts. And on top of that, retail events like Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday get bigger and bigger each year.

The holiday season brings long, hectic workdays, but business owners have time to be thankful for their stores, employees and families. For the November issue of the magazine, we reached out to several retailers to learn what they are thankful for this year.

Retailers Talk Business and Gratitude

“Cole Hardware has many things to be thankful for. We are all thankful that our founder, Dave Karp, turned 99 this year. He still serves as our figurehead. And the third generation of the Karp family, Adrianna and David, joined their father Rick in the family hardware business.

We also celebrate our diverse staff.”
-Julia Strzesieski, Cole Hardware

 

 

 

 

“I am thankful for a business started by my grandfather and father that continues to flourish and has recently grown to two stores.

I owe the most thanks to my beautiful wife Terry who takes care of almost everything else so I can focus on the business, and my brother Joe, who is a great business partner and friend.

Lastly, I am thankful for my incredible staff, who are the key to our success.”
-Mark Jaconski, Stanley’s True Value Hardware

 

“We are a small store in a small town and I am thankful for my customers. They could shop anywhere, yet they choose to come to my store. I am thankful for that and I do the best I can to honor, respect and reward them for their trust.

I’m also thankful for my store’s heritage. My grandfather took a chance when he bought and opened Hemmick Hardware in 1924. My father took over in the late 1960s and I took over in the late 1980s. Without this business, my family would be somewhere else doing something else and my family’s history would be a lot different.”
-Bill Hemmick, Hemmick Hardware