Why you should take a walk through D.E. Turner Hardware

The Presidential Debate made my head hurt. It left me feeling sad and longing for a simpler time. The ugliness of the world was wearing me out and I wanted a break. Who would have thought that I’d find my relief in a hardware store?

The inside of D.E. Turner Hardware in Mooresville hasn’t changed much since it opened 117 years ago this month. If you need help doing the math (and I always need help doing the math), that means it opened in 1899! Mooresville recognizes it as the oldest running business in town.

And this guy has worked there for 70 of those years.

Meet Jack Moore. He’ll be 85 years old in December. Moore is the owner now but he started out as a part-time employee back in high school. Today he works about 60 hours a week. He’s there Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. The store isn’t open on Sundays because his dad told him, “Any money you make on Sunday won’t do you any good.”

The store counters are older than Moore. They’ve never been moved.

Moore said, “Underneath those counters the floors look brand-new.”

You’ll need some time to take a look at everything that’s inside. Amid the typical items you’d find in a hardware store, you’ll find local honey, Lodge cast iron, Red Ryder BB Guns (yes, like the one in “A Christmas Story”) and Radio Flyer wagons and tricycles. “Not the plastic kind,” Moore is quick to add.

The store even sells nails priced by the pound, like Whole Foods sells rice. Take one or take a handful, it doesn’t matter. The scale still measures the weight.

Talking to Moore and hearing his stories reminded me that there are still good, hard-working people who support their communities every day while they raise their family. Moore has three daughters and one son, Danny. Danny works alongside his dad. Moore calls him the baby of the family. He is 47.

Among the old pictures hanging in the store is one that shows a gas pump out front. In 1912, D.E. Turner Hardware was the only place you could get gas between Charlotte and Statesville, according to Moore. Another reminder of how much times have changed.

As I rounded a corner during my visit, I noticed this cool bench sitting across from the front counter down at the end.

Moore told me it’s the Liars Bench. It’s where his friends come to sit and chat while he works.

“They sit there all day and lie,” he laughed.

Before I left, I had to ask him, “What’s the secret to being in business this long?”

“No secret,” he said. “We just do what we’re supposed to do.”

D.E. Turner Hardware: 111 N. Main St., Mooresville

Photos: Allison Andrews

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Why you should take a walk through D.E. Turner Hardware."