Historic hardware store celebrates 65 years in Flintstone
A Flintstone landmark, Ace Hardware, is celebrating its history in Chattanooga Valley while planning renovations that will return the store to its roots.
At age 21, Melvin Keith built the Georgia Supply Company on Chattanooga Valley Road in 1948, filling the first supply order with a $1,500 loan from his father.
As a general store of 2,500 square feet it featured a variety of products that ranged from hunting and fishing supplies to televisions and appliances. When the store opened on Aug. 28, total net sales for the day were of $8.90
After successfully opening his store, Keith focused on another pursuit, marrying Eloise. She joined in the business venture, co-managing the operation.
The married couple had to take separate vacations ach year, to keep the store open for customers.
“She was every bit as important, through the years, as he was,” Adam Keith said, their grandson and current manager. Melvin and Eloise each received the customary golden hammer from Ace upon retiring
In 1970, their son Mike took the helm of the family business, built an addition to the store and became a corporate Ace Hardware location. Following in his father’s footsteps, in 2004 he married Tena and she began helping manage the store. In 1990, the couple purchased the store outright.
After earning a business degree in 2002, Adam Keith became the third generation to operate the business. He partnered with his father as they expanded to a second store in Tunnel Hill and in 2012, the family purchased a Mission Ridge location.
Though the Flintstone store doubled in size decades ago, it remains the smallest of the three locations. However, it accounts for more sales revenue than the other two locations combined.
“The Flintstone location still has a lot of potential,” Keith said. “It’s a really nice community with great people.”
On Oct. 12, the store will celebrate 65 years of serving residents in the area with free hot dogs and lemonade, along with door prizes and a moon pie-eating contest.
The family hopes to see some of the local old timers that have frequented the store, sharing stories from long ago.
The store will undergo remodeling this winter, adding 2,000 square feet and changing the signage back to the Georgia Supply Company.
“We’re going to bring back a lot of the old signs and put them throughout the store and try to bring out more of the history,” Adam Keith said. “All while keeping the merchandise current.”
Adam Keith has further plans of re-establishing the general store feel over the next few years to include outdoor gear.
He plans to covert 1,700 square feet of storage into retail space that would be a sportsman’s dream of rifles and camo.
While Ace Hardware is the primary supplier, Keith has 40 vendors including locally produced honey and kettle corn.
Historical moments
Much like their father, both Adam and his brother B.J. from an early age grew up in the store.
“During the blizzard of 1993, we were down here hand pumping kerosene and had people lined up on the porch,” Adam Keith said.
For three consecutive days the brothers primed the pump instead of enjoying sledding through the snow like their friends.
The only time the store has been open on a Sunday was May 1, 2011, when it offered free chainsaw sharpening following April 27 tornadoes that destroyed homes in Flintstone.
In keeping with his religious beliefs, Keith will continue to keep the store closed on Sundays.
“In my time the tornado was hands down every bit as big as the blizzard, but it had a much more lasting effect,” Keith said. “That whole year was busier.”
Another memorable moment — unrelated to any natural disaster — occurred when a famous visitor, Johnny Cash, wanted to purchase the entire knife display case and it’s contents.
“He came in pretty loaded,” Tena Keith recalls, as Cash was in the earlier years of success in country music.
The Keith’s refused to sell the knifes to Cash , who was later jailed in LaFayette following a car accident.
“Granddaddy didn’t really care who (Cash) was. He just didn’t want some drunk to buy a bunch of stuff he didn’t need and he didn’t want to get rid of the knife case.”