True Value

Our Story
In 1940 Ardell Lanier was working in a small hardware store on 2nd Street. It was owned and operated by his brother-in-law. The store was not doing so well and Mr. Lanier’s brother-in-law was going to close up shop when Mr. Lanier at the age of 20 asked to buy him out and take over the business all by himself. After Mr. Lanier and his wife Edna Davis Lanier gathered up the money with a little help from Mrs. Lanier’s mother and Lanier Hardware was born.

The first thing Mr. Lanier started doing was stocking his shelves with whatever he did not have and whatever a customer asked for. Even a couple of thing-u-mug-gigs. Mr. Lanier has had a long running slogan: "If we don’t have it and we can’t get it, you don’t need it" (Lexington Dispatch, 1979). Before long with the growing inventory the store had to be expanded. So he bought the shop next door and expanded into it. He would repeat this a couple of more times before moving to the present location on South Main Street. Even at this new location some type of expansion or renovation has occurred every several years. Now as a sign of the times the little hardware store on South Main has expand to the internet.

By 1945 Laniers had doubled in size from its original 1,600 square feet by adding sporting goods and a hobby department. During those first couple of years Mr. Lanier and one part-time employee ran the store. However, with the expansion in 45 Mrs. Lanier came on to manage the books. She would often work at home taking care of the paperwork and their two children Gail and Ann. The additions in 1945 I guess one could say were brought about mostly because of Mr. Lanier’s son’s interest. "Daddy said, "I think we need to be in the wholesale business for that stuff (models), if we’re going to spend so much money on it," Gail said (Dispatch, 1993.) By 1950 a housewares department was added along with an additional 1,600 square feet and soon the first of many family employees would join his parents.

Gail started working at the age of 12 in the sporting goods and hobby shop and well that is where you will find the now president of the family business today. Even at this young age Gail was in charge of ordering for the sports and hobbies. The store’s inventory continued to grow and by 1955 another 1,600 square feet was added with more housewares. Shortly after this expansion Gail’s sister Ann Lanier Easter started coming up to the store and assisting her mother. Ann says, "Getting into the family business was just natural. We grew up in it. We’d come up to the store with mother, and I’d help her count change and run a register" (Dispatch, 1993.) As the payroll continued to grow so did the store’s inventory. So much so that in 1962 Laniers moved to its current location on South Main Street. This move meant that the Laniers could own the building that their growing family business was now in. Something Mr. Lanier prides himself on today. During this time in 1965 Laniers became part of the True Value chain. Here again staying ahead of any competition from smaller hardware stores with the buying power of the largest Hardware wholesaler, Cotter and Company. Right around this time one of the single most important additions happened for Laniers. The family acquired the property behind the store and turned it into a parking lot. Ardell knew street front parking was not going to be enough for the Main Street Store. "That (the parking lot) was thanks to Daddy’s foresight," Gail said (Dispatch, 93.) I know it sounds simple, but who in 1965 thought that shopping centers would dominate our landscape and cause demise to small towns all over the United States. As simple as it may sound this parking lot has been one of the main reasons for the store’s success through the years. Oh! and inventory.

The store would continue to grow in this new location. With an added second floor in 1968 and then they added onto the back of the store in 1973. In 1978 they added a Third Avenue wing and moved sporting goods there, which coincidentally shaped the layout of the store’s floor into a L. In 1988 a second story was added to the Third Avenue wing and a new entrance on State Street was completed.

Through the years all of this expansion has been to accommodate the store’s vast inventory. So, your probably asking who keeps up with all the inventory. Well for years Mr. Lanier keep it in his head. He has said, "It’s like your things at home. You know where you keep your toothbrush, and if someone doesn’t move it, it will be there when you go to get it" (Dispatch, 1993.) After a little pushing from Gail, Ann and other family members the store computerized in 1988. By now two more family members joined the force. Gail’s daughter Natalie Lanier Taylor and her husband Greg Taylor started working at the store shortly after their college graduations. Natalie would work in the office alongside her grandmother and Aunt with accounts receivable, where as Greg would start work on converting the hardware store into computer data.

One might imagine this to be an arduous task. Well, it has been 11 years now and there is still merchandise waiting to become inventory data. Like I said earlier this store has got some inventory. At present today the little hardware store has grown to 85,000 square feet of stock rooms, offices, and showroom floor and it has not stopped growing yet. In 1989 Gail’s two twin sons Stanley and Stewart Lanier came on board to assist in the family business. Stewart joining his dad in sporting goods and Stanley joining his grandfather in hardware.

In the 90’s not much has changed for Laniers. The family continues to grow as well as the business. In 1998 Laniers added a service known as Just Ask Rental to it’s inventory and now they are expanded into cyberspace with their first Web Page and e-mail address. The rental service is an expansion of Tru*serv, what Cotter & Co. is know as today. Who knows what is in store for the new millennium. With 3 generations working and the 4th up and growing anything is possible.

June of 2006 marks 66 years for Laniers and it continues to go strong. It has grown but the family and the employees continue to wait on customers with the friendly feel of the corner store. Now the store has gained local legendary status. With the occasional tour bus dropping in to see the local hardware store with all the inventory and just as he has for 65 years Mr. Lanier will probably be there to show them his store full of: Anvils, bolts, Christmas decorations, dolls, electrical tape, fireplaces, guns, hats, ink, jackets, keys, ladders, mouse traps, nails, ovens, potbellied stoves, quik dry cement, rope, saddles, towels, umbrellas, vents, wheelbarrels, xerox copies, yellow paint, and zinc oxide just to name a few.