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Lucy and Terry White’s family-owned store has been selling nuts, bolts and much more in Eugene since 1925, when Lucy's grandfather bought a shop downtown. Over the years, the store passed down through generations and in the 1960s was moved to its current location on South Willamette Street.
Lucy White grew up playing in the hardware store her grandfather had purchased in downtown Eugene in 1925.
“It was kind of the center of everything, the store,” she told Lookout Eugene-Springfield.
It still is. White and her husband, Terry, both 77, own Eugene True Value Hardware at 28th and Willamette streets, where the store moved in the 1960s. Their son, Doug, works in the shop, as have many other family members over the years.
“It’s been a family business all along since 1925,” Terry White said.
The store is celebrating its 100th anniversary this weekend, Oct. 3-5, with promotions, including a bucket sale where customers can buy a 5-gallon bucket for $1 and get a discount on the items that fit inside. The shop is also hosting a community celebration on Saturday, from noon to 2 p.m., with cake and cookies.
A community pillar
Lucy White’s grandfather, Gilbert MacLaren, purchased the hardware store in 1925 and named it Eugene Hardware Co. It operated inside a building belonging to the Odd Fellows fraternal order at Broadway and Oak Street, where the former Wells Fargo building is now.
Lucy White’s father, Donald, took over the shop after World War II. In 1962, when Odd Fellows decided to tear down the building, he moved the store to its current location at 2825 Willamette St.
Lucy and Terry White bought the business in 1981 and changed the store’s name to Eugene True Value Hardware. True Value is a hardware wholesaler with a network of 4,500 retail stores that are independently owned.
“At that time, True Value was doing quite a bit of national advertising,” Terry White said. “We had Pat Summerall and Paul Harvey as our spokesmen.”
Terry and Lucy expanded into the downstairs portion of the building. In 1989, they doubled the store’s space by combining with a building next door.
The hardware store sells tools, home improvement supplies, paint, grills, canning products, nuts, bolts and more.
An evolving product mix
The couple has seen changes over time. Many south Eugene houses are aging, and there’s not a lot of new housing construction in the neighborhood.
“Whereas, when Don brought the store here, this was pretty much the edge of town,” Terry White said. “All those houses out there were all built after 1962, and he probably supplied a lot of the materials for building those houses.”
Now people are doing repairs on their homes. The shop also sells more lawn and garden items than it used to — plants, gardening soil and birdseed.
“It has changed over time,” Terry White said. “We just had to kind of go with the flow.”
Both of their sons have worked in the store at various times, just as Lucy White and her brother and sister helped out in their father’s shop.
“It feels great being part of that kind of legacy and just knowing we’ve been a part of the community for that long,” said Doug White, 48, who is an assistant manager at the store. “It’s a hardware store. It’s nothing too flashy, but it’s one of those community pillars that everybody needs something from, especially if they’re a homeowner.”
He was 4 years old when his parents bought the shop from his grandfather. Like his mother, he played in the store until he was old enough to help with the family business. He got his start in the shop doing data entry and janitorial work before moving into a customer service role.
Doug said the business is a reliable touchstone in south Eugene where there are not other hardware stores.
“We know the south Eugene community likes to stay close,” Doug White said. “They really appreciate having us here to keep them in their community.”
Regular customers also come back for the service and personal connection, he said. He recently helped a customer repair a table lamp, and she thanked him by baking him a cake using a family recipe.
If you go
What: Eugene True Value Hardware celebrates 100 years in business
When: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3-4, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday Oct. 5; a community celebration will be noon to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Where: 2825 Willamette St., Eugene