Unexpected entrepreneurs: How a Thorndale family turned tragedy into hardware store success

An accountant, a mechanic, and a lawyer walk into a hardware store.

It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it's been happening every day for the past eight months at Thorndale Hardware, and if you told them where they'd be today a year ago, the store's new owners might've thoughtyou werekidding.

After all, one might not expect to see the trio, aged 23, 27 and30,behind the counter when they walk inside the quaint shop that's been serving the Thorndale, Ont.,community since before roads were paved and when people travelled on horseback.

The new ownersof Thorndale Hardware are thefour Woods sisters and one of their significant others.

"Life takes you down weird paths," said Conner Darville, who runs the store withthe Woods family."We never would've expected this, but we're all glad to be doing it."

DavidWoodsbought the hardware store at181 King Streetfrom its previous owners a local couple who ranitfor 37 years in January. As a farmer with a penchant for entrepreneurship, Woods hoped the purchase would spark a spirit of entrepreneurship in his children, saidCarly Woods, his 23-year-old daughter.

In February, Davidpassed away suddenly, leaving the business behind for his four daughters to handle on their own.

"He always said your only regret is not trying, so he said, 'Let's try. Let's go for this hardware store because we'll regret it if we don't try,'" said Carly. "So here we are with the hardware store, and it's great."

Carlysaid the last thing she expected she'd be doing fresh on the heels of graduating from universitywas selling birdseed, nuts and bolts, paintand more to the people of the community she grew up in.

It's been a learning experience for the whole familyaccording to Darville, who has gonefrom working on diesel engines to selling the tools heused in his trade.

"It's been a lot of learning on the fly. You learn the store, where your product is, and even what your product is. There's a lot of nuance when it comes to pretty much everything in here," said Darville. "It'll probably be a few years before we figure it out."

On top of the pressure of wanting to honour David Woods's memory,the store's history and thereputation its previous owners built over 37 years plays a role in the sense of pressure its new owners feel as well, he said.

"It's some big shoes to fill. This place has been a staple in the community for a while. Basically, it's like, don't screw it up," Darville said.

Despite that pressure, things have been going well, according to the family. The fact that everyone has a part to playand is playingit well has been instrumental, they said. Darville is thestore's frontman. He's on the floor every day helping customers, many of whom have been customers of Thorndale Hardware since before he was born.

"I'm always trying to take input from customers to see what they want product-wise, to help them out if they need it, and more," he said.

A lawyer by day, 30-year-old Emily Woodstakes care of marketing and social media, as well as some administrative tasks.

"I think I should keep my day job," she joked when asked if the social media marketing has been a success. "But we've gotten some good responses."

To Emily, the magic of running the store comes from the fact that, as with many local hardware stores across rural Ontario,it's an integral part of the community.

"You get equipped for what the most popular things are, but you also see how much unconventional stuff people tend to need. Being part of a small town, it's important that we have a little bit of everything for everyone," Emily said."We want to prevent them from having to travel all the way into the city."

Carly, whose role includesusingher business degree from Western University to keep the booksand handle administrative tasks, agreed with her sisteronthe hardware store's importance in the community.

"Being a part of Thorndale my whole life,you knew everyone. Now, being in the retail side of it, you see how important it is foryour customers, but alsoyour neighbours," Carly said. "Likeproviding what local farmers need."

With the community in mind, the previous owners' focus on selling local products is still centre stage, she added.

"We get stuff from St.Marys, Woodstock,London, even selling maple syrup from the [Kinsmen Fanshawe Sugar Bush]," Carly said. "Being a local store, it's also important for us tostay local with our suppliers."

Perhaps most important ofall, Carly said, is looking to a future in which Thorndale continues to growquickly, and matching that growth at the store.

"You can see houses going up all over. We want to still cater to our loyal customers and the farmers, but also growwith the community and caterto the new needs of the subdivisions coming up," she said. "We want to stay a big part of the community."

It also doesn't hurt for the family to take a step back and look at what they've accomplished in the months since they took over.

"I think we've managed well and have learned a lot and grown with each other.With the passing of our dad, that was not in the cards and that put a whole other challenge on top of this," said Carly.

"But I think we've done well given what we've been handed, and yeah, I'm proud of us."