It’s yellowed with a bit of age. It’s pasted on a piece of wood with a decorative boarder of fabric. The Press and Standard clipping shows the generations of Westbury’s who have provided hardware and so many other goods to people over the years. Richard Westbury, the fourth generation of Westbury’s smiled and laughed a little when he looked at the article. He tells a little bit about the history of the hardware store. His great grandfather Joe Westbury opened the first store in Harleyville in 1910. Then his grandfather Wilson Westbury took over the business in 1940. In the 1960’s Mr. Richard’s dad Ernest Westbury took over the business. Westbury Hardware joined the ACE franchise in the 1970’s and the second Westbury store opened in Holy Hill in 1972. When it was Mr. Richard’s turn, he moved the family business to Walterboro in 2002. The picture in the upper right-hand corner shows the four generations of Westbury men who have been in the hardware business for over one hundred years. It’s not a big photograph and Mr. Richard jokes he almost needs a magnifying glass to see it, then promptly picks one up from his desk to examine the photo. He says that’s all of them and he’s the baby in the photo. Mr. Richard is proud of what his family has accomplished as he should be and he hopes there will be a 5th generation of Westburys to continue in the family business. It’s not often one finds a business that has stayed open as long as the Westbury hardware stores have and still thrive. Walterboro looks forward to many more years with Westbury ACE Hardware striving to be “the most helpful hardware store in all of Colleton County”.
Resource: The Press and Standard (2003)
