Nixa Hardware's history entwined with town's

by Kris Ann Hegle

SBJ Contributing Writer

A flip of a coin set in place the second generation of ownership in Nixa Hardware & Seed Co. Hard work and persistence has kept that family ownership in place through four generations, heading for a fifth.

For the past 100 years, five generations of the same family have worked at Nixa Hardware & Seed Co. Founded in 1899 by F.M. Wasson, Nixa Hardware originally was located in a small wooden building just west of Main Street.

Wasson had six nephews who worked on a farm just south of Nixa. The farm wasn't large enough to support all six nephews, so in 1907, Wasson invited one of his nephews to work alongside him in the hardware business.

His two eldest nephews, Efton and Herbert Hawkins, flipped a coin to see who would work for their uncle. Efton Hawkins won the coin toss, joined his uncle in the hardware business and later became his partner.

In 1909 Nixa Hardware moved to a new building on Main Street. The building had a water system and gas lights which were firsts in Nixa and water and gas were provided to neighboring businesses.

The early store carried tools, windmills, horse-drawn wagons and Model T Fords, which were moved to the showroom upstairs using a hand-pulled rope elevator. The store also stocked ice boxes, cast-iron cooking utensils, buggy supplies, harrows and horse collars, pumps, firearms and dynamite.

Although the store had a diverse inventory, not everyone came to Nixa Hardware to buy something. A potbellied stove in the back of the store was the town's unofficial meeting place, and customers would often gather to discuss the latest news and chew tobacco.

Efton Hawkins' daughter, Averiel Hawkins McCroskey, followed her father into the business and became the store's bookkeeper. McCroskey, 87, remembers how the store struggled during the Great Depression.

"On Saturday afternoon, men would get drunk and there would be fights on Main Street," McCroskey said. "It was especially hard for the farmers. Even our best customers couldn't pay their bills not even the preacher. That made it hard for us to pay our bills. Business fell off because people just didn't have any money, but we made it."

In 1935 Hawkins' son-in-law, L.D. McCroskey, joined the business and later went on to become its owner. Under McCroskey's ownership, the store branched out and began selling farm equipment, such as binders, thrashers and combines for harvesting seed. McCroskey also decided to form a separate business for the cars that were sold by Nixa Hardware, and the car business was moved to East Mount Vernon Street.

In the mid 1940s, Nixa elected a mayor to qualify the town as a fourth-class city so the state would allow it to build its own water system. McCroskey, a well-respected citizen, was elected Nixa's first mayor, and the town's early city council meetings were held at the store because there was no city hall.

After McCroskey retired in the 1970s, his son, Larry McCroskey, and his son-in-law, Gary Murray, took over the business. The two, who co-own the store with their wives Jeanne McCroskey and Macanna Murray, began selling fescue and many other types of lawn, garden, farm and bird seed.

Selling seed quickly became an important part of the business, and today almost 50 percent of sales come from the seed division. Much of the freshly harvested fescue is cleaned by Nixa Hardware's seed cleaning plant, which is located in downtown Nixa.

Some of the seed sold at Nixa Hardware & Seed Co. is grown by family members, while other seed is purchased from growers as far away as Oregon. Much of the seed is specially mixed, and some is sold in-house while other seed is bagged and sold to other retailers and wholesalers.

In addition to branching out into the seed business, the McCroskeys and the Murrays decided to expand the store's buying power, and in 1984 Nixa Hardware affiliated with Ace Hardware.

Within four years Nixa Hardware had outgrown its downtown location, and the store moved to a new building with better parking at the corner of Highway 160 and Highway 14.

"One of the store's greatest strengths has been its ability to change and adapt to the needs of the time," family member James Blond McCroskey, 93, said. "I've shopped at the store for years, and I've watched the changes each generation has made. Each generation always knew what to do, and they did it at the right time."

The store still stocks farm supplies, but recently Nixa Hardware began carrying more pet food and veterinary medicines. Much of the present-day inventory is targeted toward suburban homeowners. Customers can find tools, plumbing and electrical supplies, work clothes, and gas, wood and electric heaters and fireplaces.

These days, however, the lawn and garden department that has a greenhouse, water garden building materials and supplies, landscaping supplies and a large variety of lawn and garden seed, draws the greatest number of customers.

Although spring and summer are the busiest seasons, Nixa Hardware's lawn and garden department is open year-round. In fact, this October the store will hold its first annual fall festival to showcase its wide array of fall and winter products, and the store will hold a number of demonstrations.

"My grandfather Efton would roll over in his grave if he knew we were selling such things as rocks, dirt, manure, mulch, dog food, wild bird food things people wouldn't have paid money for in his time," Macanna Murray said.

However, Efton Hawkins would probably still appreciate Nixa Hardware's commitment to personal service. Many of the store's 32 employees have worked at the store for years, and each is responsible for helping identify customers' needs and answering questions.

In addition, Store Manager Joey Glenn joined Nixa Hardware this year and is helping organize the store's expansion. Glenn, who has 20 years' experience in retail hardware, is bringing many new ideas to the store and is adding to its product line.

Continuity in ownership, however, is still one of the store's hallmarks, and the fifth generation is now involved in the business. Casi McCroskey, daughter of Larry and Jeanne McCroskey, works after school part-time as a cashier, while Scott Murray, son of Gary and Macanna Murray, serves as the in-house computer systems manager.

"The other members of the fifth generation are busy doing their own thing," Macanna Murray said. "But maybe after they get some experience of their own, some of them will take an interest in the family hardware business."[[In-content Ad]]