THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 30, 1994 TAG: 9406280140
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940630 LENGTH: Medium
It was 1945. World War II had just ended, and building materials were scarce.
{REST} Just home from the war, thousands of servicemen were reuniting with their families and setting up households in the new neighborhoods being built in the once-empty fields that surrounded Wards Corner.
Even though it meant scavenging for supplies, Barnett saw an opportunity not to be missed.
``Everybody told me I was crazy to open a hardware store out here in the country,'' said Barnett, now 84. ``When I first came out here, there was only Tegg's Log Cabin (restaurant) across the street and a few filling stations. The rest was empty fields. Then they started building. The people needed this kind of thing nearby.''
A competitor predicted Barnett's new hardware store wouldn't gross more than $125 a week. He made more than that the first day.
Buoyed by success, Barnett expanded his operation a few years later, filling the store's shelves with children's gym sets, beach umbrellas, baskets and giftware and other household accessories.
``I learned early on the ladies spent more money than the men did,'' he admitted. ``So I tried to have things for the children and the house. After a while, I didn't have room for building supplies.''
By 1955, he had opened an adjacent gift shop featuring baskets, gifts and household decorations.
He was doing so well in the early '60s, Barnett bought an old farm out on Richmond Road in Williamsburg and turned it into a retail store and a candle factory. He eventually expanded that operation to eight permanent showrooms across the United States and in several foreign countries.
At one point, Barnett opened a branch of his hardware operation in Virginia Beach.
But it was the hardware store at Wards Corner that was his flagship operation and the one closest to his heart. To many of his customers, the store had become the quintessential hardware store, a place where neighborly service, quality merchandise and hard-to-find items could always be found.
It became a Norfolk institution.
Even after Barnett relinquished control of the operation to his son, Richard, in 1988 and then sold it a few years later to a local businessman, the store and its hardware were still a part of Wards Corner's traditional landscapes.
But as of June, hardware sold under the name of Barnett is a thing of the past. The new owner, Rogers Cathey sold the hardware store back to Barnett and his wife, Mary, so that they could expand their attached gift shop. The Barnetts continued to run the gift shop since its opening in 1955.
``It's sad in a way,'' Barnett said. ``But we're very excited about what we're going to be doing in the future.''
Added Mary, a former Norfolk schoolteacher: ``He's like a kid with a new toy. He's so excited about this that he can't sleep at night for thinking about it.''
Over the next month, the couple plan on renovating the main part of the store where hardware has been a staple for almost 50 years. In its place, they intend to stock more custom lamps and shades, fine giftware and decorative items. The Barnetts also want to introduce several new product lines into their expanded showroom.
``We had really outgrown our gift shop,'' said Mary Barnett. ``We are just overflowing. Now we'll be able to spread out and really display our merchandise better.''
As he moves in a new direction, John Barnett contends that the secret of his business longevity has been his adaptability.
``I've always switched directions when it was needed,'' he said. ``You can not do business the same way you did it even five years ago. . . much less 49 years ago. People live differently today than they did then.'' by CNB