A personal touch and a name you can trust
After 140 years, customer service still a hallmark at Elverson Supply
“One of the oldest businesses around,” that’s what the locals say about Elverson Supply Co. Inc., 101 East Main Street in Elverson. “It’s been a local landmark for 140 years. It is a name you can trust.”
“We’re the ‘Cheers’ of Hardware, where everyone knows your name,” said Jeffrey R. Cook, fifth generation, Elverson Supply.
Cook said people come for that hometown feeling and the quality supplies and service that Elverson Supply has taken pride in for five generations.
“Because of our long history in Elverson and the family ownership, personal customer service is as important now as it was to our forefathers when they started what we now call Elverson Supply. We are proud to serve our community and hope to continue to serve for many generations to come.”
Elverson Supply is where people come to shop and get their screens, tools, and locks fixed; where people get friendly guidance on their special projects while paint, hammers, and nails fly out the door; where people
get a hand for a fix-it door, skylight, or faucet; where contractors browse and order their concrete, lumber and building supplies, and where every spring and fall topsoil, mulch, and stone are plentiful along with a large array of garden and power tools.
The roots of the Elverson Supply Co. Inc. began as early
as 1875 when Isaac K. Sigmund began a coal and lumber business in Springfield, at the age of 23. A successful businessman until 1918, he then sold the business to H. Bernard Fox in 1919. A year later the company changed hands for the last time when it was purchased by Robert Cook and renamed Robert Cook and Son. Since then the company
has been owned and operated by five generations of the Cook family, according to the business history on the company’s Facebook page.
In the early 1920s, a new feed mill was built, and Robert’s son George R. Cook added a small hardware store. In 1955, the name was changed to Elver
son Supply Co. Inc. The 1970s and ‘80s brought big changes. In 1988, the wooden framed feed mill was replaced by the present store and warehouse facility and George’s sons, George H. and Robert E., discontinued the feed business and concentrated on lumber and hardware. During this time, Robert E.’s three sons; James R., Robert R., and David B. joined the staff to bring the fourth generation of service in the community. By the late 1990s, Peggy A., wife of Robert R., became a daily addition doing all the accounting and bookkeeping, joining her husband and his brothers and her son Jeffery R., the fifth generation of the Cook family.
“When people can’t figure it out, we will. I’ve worked in the store since I was 14, it is what I know. I remember the days when Dad and my uncles would fly out the door when the fire sirens went off. It was a rite of passage when I was old enough to join them on those fire calls with the Twin Valley Firefighters. Customers understood, we are a community store,” said Jeffery Cook.
“People come because we have that hometown feel, we are that hub for renovations and Mr. Fix-Its, we sell to factories and work closely with local contractors. People call three, four times a day for referrals to reliable contractors. They trust us,” he said. “On a warm summer day in Elverson you will find a crowd gathered in the parking lot listening to our local Johnny Cash John Barnett singing and playing the guitar for the parade and other events.”
Elverson Supply is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, visit www.elversonsupply.net or on Facebook or call 610286-5021.