Fall 2023 Hardlines Strategies

HEART OF HARDWARE

Love at First Market N ot only is Peterson Lumber & Hardware the Retailers’ Love Story Thanks to Blish-Mize Peterson Lumber & Hardware owners Joni and Jeffrey Peterson met at Blish-Mize markets when they were kids. Now, they own and operate their own hardware store and bring their two children to markets. Established in 1874, Peterson Lumber & Hardware has evolved over the last 150 years and undergone several name changes, each marking a new era of stewardship. Joni’s parents, Richard and Hardware Love Story Both the Guimond and Peterson families enjoyed attending Blish-Mize markets

when Joni and Jeffrey were children. The families had met years before Joni and Jeffrey were born, and once they had children, the market was a family-friendly event for them to reconnect twice a year. As a result, Joni and Jeffrey grew up getting to know one another twice a year at markets. “Every market, Jeffrey and I enjoyed walking around, finding free products on the show floor, swimming and drinking Shirley Temples,” Joni says. “We danced around each other for most of our childhood. But at the fall market of

oldest business in White City and Morris County, Kansas, but it is a dream come true for owners Joni and Jeffrey Peterson and their children, Journey and Jeremiah Peterson.

Pam Guimond, purchased the store in 1989 and operated the business for 30 years under the name Guimond Lumber & Hardware, where Joni spent most of her childhood days. In the neighboring town of Alta Vista, Kansas, just 17 miles away, Jeffrey also grew up with his parents managing the hardware store Wolgast Lumber. Joni and Jeffrey’s happily ever after began in an unexpected place—a Blish-Mize buying market at the ages of 10.

26 Fall 2023 • Hardlines Strategies