Orme's Hardware to celebrate 150 years in May

One of the oldest businesses in Guernsey County still operating in Cambridge will celebrate a milestone in May.

Orme Hardware Store will mark 150 years in business.

A company doesn't achieve that sort of success and longevity without doing a lot of things right.

Maintaining a large inventory and keeping up with the times both figure into Orme's success formula. But, if owner Karen McCoy had to cite a single factor, it would be customer service.

"That's what we're here for," she said. "If it wasn't for the customer, we wouldn't be here. It's a very big deal because, if you don't have customers, you don't have a business.

"And we try to have quality products and stand by what our work is. That's a big deal for us, too."

Although Orme hardware dates itself officially to 1869, its prelude began nine years earlier when A.C. Cochran started selling hardware items in a room of a downtown hotel.

The business went through a succession of owners and locations, particularly early on in its history. What is viewed as the start of the current business took place in 1869 when Cochran's business was bought out by R.V. Orme and Jacob R. Meredith.

In 1900, the company had moved to 828 Wheeling Ave. where it remained until 1962 when it moved to its current location, 134 N. 11th St. in the building which once housed the John White Garage.

The Orme family operated the hardware with various partners for 83 years until the business was sold in 1952 to Carlos "Jim" Garver. Garver sold the business five years later to Thomas Rae who operated it with John "Jack" McCoy as manager.

A year later, McCoy and his wife, Elizabeth, bought the hardware store from Rae. The couple operated the business until 1996 when their son, Richard "Dick" McCoy took over the company.

In 2000, he decided to expand the company. He began buying failing hardware stores and savored the challenge of turning them back into prosperous businesses.

McCoy succeeded in turning around six hardware stores before succumbing unexpectedly in 2016.

Today, his wife, Karen, continues the tradition of running a successful, family, hometown hardware business.

From handwritten ledgers to point-of-sale systems and computerized offices, Orme Hardware continues its 150 year evolution.

One of its most recent developments is the addition of a paint bar to enable do-it-yourselfers to choose from an array of paint hues.

McCoy strives constantly to stay attuned to the changing technologies and trends.

"We now do a 'ladies night' every year," she said. "Statistically, it's actually switched [from men to women]. Between 50 and 51 percent of the buyers are now women, not just men in the hardware store. You think, 'All [hardware is] a man's world.' Not really, not anymore. So, we're trying also to make women comfortable in the store."

The staff is welcoming to women and never shy about answering questions such as, "How do I make my toilet quit running?" or "How do I fix my leaky faucet?"

"In many cases, they don't know how to do any of that," McCoy said. "So, we have had mini-workshops on our Ladies' Night on how to do those kind of things."

Whether the customer is a man or a woman, McCoy remains confident in the company's motto: You can find it at Orme's.