The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
JOUGHIN HARDWARE REMAINS LANDMARK
The story of Joughin Hardware began when Jeff Joughin’s great grandfather first immigrated to the United States from the Isle of Man, located between Ireland and Great Britain.
“General (John S.) Casement was here in Painesville at the time and he had heard my great grandfather had come into the country because they were both masons,” Jeff Joughlin said. “My grandfather also did heating and plumbing so (Casement) invited them to the Casement home.”
After finding initial work helping to construct the Casement home, Jeff Joughin’s grandfather became enamored with the area and soon established residence in Painesville.
The establishment that would become Joughin Hardware was started in 1877 and it remains in Painesville today at 23 S. State St.
“He opened a plumbing and heating shop. This is the original shop,” Jeff Joughin said. “He bought this storefront and went from there. It was a general store at first and then eventually became a hardware store. Back then it was all about neighbors.
“With the help of God we’ve been blessed to survive in Painesville for 142 years.”
Joughin equates his lasting success with the ability to connect with community, but also laments the loss of other small
businesses.
“Painesville used to have meat markets and little shops and they keep getting gobbled up,” he said. “It’s hard for small businesses to succeed. Today, it’s more about money for them than being neighborly like God intended us to live as good neighbors to one another. “When you go into most stores the people working there don’t even want to talk to you,” he added. “It’s all about customer service and that’s exactly what you get coming into our hardware store.
“Painesville was the hub, but that was before Mentor Mall,” he added. “That came in and kind of changed things in the 1960s. People’s shopping habits changed, parking became a problem.”
Despite the changes that recent social distancing mandates necessitated by the spread of the novel coronavirus, Joughin’s Hardware remains busy.
“We’ve been doing really good through all this, all things considered.,” Joughin said. “We’re down about a third, but it has
been business as usual. We’re wiping down the counters, we’ve got spots on the floor marked off to provide space, and are taking the temperatures of our employees, but for the most you can’t tell there’s a change except for the fact it’s all everyone is talking about.
“One change I’ve noticed is a lot more people are painting,” he said about the customers. “Everyone is going stir-crazy. They all have to stay at home so we’re selling a lot more paint for home projects. Now people are buying a lot of lawn and leaf bags because they love getting outside when they can.”
Their challenge has been in allocating supplies, including protective masks and hand sanitizer.
“We’ve got a big warehouse that we’re a member of and we get shipments every Monday so there’s always a chance, but we don’t know where we are in the feeding chain,” he said.
Joughlin looks to the future with the same steady approach that has maintained the business across two centuries.
“We’re an old-fashioned mom and pop store and we treat people as neighbors,” he said.