Small Business Finalists: Maschino's

Small Business Finalists

Finalists take the spotlight

Each year, in conjunction with national Small Business Week, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce honors a local company with the W. Curtis Strube Small Business of the Year Award.

This year, there are five finalists for the honor: Aire-Master of America Inc., Carnahan-White Inc., Environmental Works Inc., Maschino's Home Expressions and PJC Insurance.

Springfield Business Journal will profile each of these finalists in the issues leading up to the Small Business Week luncheon and awards ceremony, which will be held May 25 at the University Plaza Hotel.

For more information about the event, or to make reservations, contact Sonja Chasteen at the chamber, 865-5567.

Maschino's carries on tradition begun in 1903

The store builds on family roots to continue a reputation of quality

by Diane Rarick

SBJ Contributing Writer

The Maschino name has been a part of the Springfield business community since 1903, when Schaeffer-Maschino Hardware opened on Commercial Street, where it operated until 1931. E.J. Maschino, son of founder George Maschino, established his own hardware store in 1952 in Springfield's second shopping center outside of downtown, the Wedgewood Shopping Center at 1715 S. Campbell Ave.

Nancy Maschino Brown, the third generation in the business, remembers that a popcorn field was west of the shopping center. At the time, Campbell Street was not even paved south of Sunshine. "I knew my father was smart, but I just hoped he really knew what he was doing," Maschino Brown said.

"My father wanted to provide whatever the customer wanted. We had a very completely stocked hardware store. He loved people, and that attitude built this business," she said.

Her parents both worked in the business, and her father died in 1972. Her mother, Leola, worked in the store until 1977 and recently helped Maschino Brown and her daughter, Karol Brown, publish a book featuring family historical photos titled "The Early Ozarks, A Family's Journey," part of a series by Arcadia Publishing. The book can be purchased at Maschino's.

Although the name has persisted through time, the products sold by the Maschino family have vastly changed. At the turn of the century, buggy whips and lanterns were sold. From the 1950s to 1980s, you could buy pressure cooker valves, bridal gifts and housewares at Maschino's Hardware.

Patio furniture was added in 1982. The company kept adding space at the Wedgewood Center and sold the hardware business in 1987, when the inventory was sold to Glen Block True Value Hardware.

"Our reputation in town was that If you can't find it at Maschino's Hardware, you can't find it anywhere,'" Maschino Brown said.

She started working in the hardware store when she was 8 years old. After attending college and working as a teacher, she did all the bookkeeping for the business at home when her two eldest children were small. She later worked on the sales floor and took over managing the store with her husband, Gary Brown, after E.J. Maschino died in 1972.

In the early 1980s, the store was renamed Maschino's Home Expressions and expanded further into the areas of patio and casual furniture, hearth and fireplace supplies, and top-quality grills. The store now owns 20,000 square feet of showroom space and leases 20,000 square feet of warehouse space.

Maschino's Home Expressions caters to customers seeking high-quality, long-lasting furniture, grills and hearths for their home, poolside, porch or lakeside cottage. The explosion of outdoor living and entertaining spaces in the last five to 10 years has brought many new products to the market, including professional quality stainless steel grills with everything from attached burners and rotisseries to refrigerators. The store attracts customers from a 100-mile radius of Springfield, from Lake of the Ozarks to Bella Vista, Ark., according to Maschino Brown.

Maschino's has 18 employees, and several of them have been with the company from 13 to 24 years. Gary Brown is president, and Greg Nutting is general manager. Because similar but lower-end products can be purchased at large discount and home improvement stores, Maschino's strives to offer mid- to high-end, top-quality merchandise sold and serviced by customer-oriented employees.

Carrying high-quality products that can last up to 25 years reduces the number of problems customers may encounter, Maschino Brown said. "We hire people with an innate desire to help people. We give information and don't pressure employees to make quotas. We acknowledge the customer and provide highly knowledgeable sales people," she said.

The store's Great Grill Club offers get-togethers for its grill customers three times a year at which they can take lessons from grill chefs and share grilling recipes and techniques.

The store has supported many charitable causes over the years, both in the arts and athletics. Maschino Brown was one of the original members of the Fast Break Club, a group of 20 women who helped build awareness of women's athletics at Southwest Missouri State University.

Maschino Brown's most treasured award is the Ozzie Award she received from the Springfield Area Arts Council in recognition of her leadership and support of the arts. Maschino Brown was the chairman of the inaugural month of Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts, helping organize 22 different arts events that brought 25,000 people to the hall the first month it opened.

The company continues to underwrite and support various performances at the hall, plus other arts organizations such as Springfield Little Theatre, the Springfield Symphony, Springfield Ballet, Springfield Regional Opera, and SMSU's Tent Theatre, among others.