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Charley Riggle proud of his little ‘piece of history’
ROACHDALE — A step through the front door of is a step into the past.
The red double doors facing the corner of Washington and Meridian streets have a squeak that seems to say they’ve hung there for the store’s entire 117-year history.
The door closes and then the scent hits — those wooden floors that were the hallmark of old-fashioned stores of all kinds.
Proprietor Charley Riggle is quick to point out that the smell has, unfortunately, changed.
“One thing I do miss is I can’t get floor oil anymore,” Riggle says with a smile, “and that always added to the odor of these old stores.”
Riggle should know a thing or two about that. Besides owning the store for 25 years as of July 1, he’s a Roachdale native who understands the importance of such a store, even as he acknowledges that a town of 900 won’t exactly bring riches to a hardware store owner.
“It’s been a good business. It’s something Roachdale needs,” Riggle said. “In a small town like this, you’re not going to make a fortune. It’s all a family can do to eat out of a storefront business like this.”
That’s exactly what Charley and wife Phyllis — an officer at Tri-County Bank just up the street — have done for the last 25 years.
In the quarter century as hardware store owners, the Riggles watched sons Charley Jr. and Aaron graduate high school in the early years before going through their own sort of graduation — to grandparents of four little ones.
Besides being a part-time mail carrier, Charley was the owner of a flooring business at the east end of the block when he bought the hardware store at 101 E. Washington St. He initially had plans to run both businesses, but those were quickly scrapped.
“Once I got in here, this was enough,” Riggle said. “I thought I could do both, but after being in here nine, 10 hours a day, I didn’t feel like going to somebody’s house and trying to sell something else.”
Riggle is the fourth owner of the store that was first opened by F.H. Bowen in 1900. Bowen sold hardware in the west half and dry goods and groceries on the east side.
Charles Hanna and George Wendling bought the hardware part of the business, before Wendling bowed out and it became Charles Hanna and Sons, eventually changing hands to Claude “Wink” Hannah.
Aaron and Barbara Craft then bought the store and owned it for nearly 50 years before selling it to Riggle on July 1, 1992.
“I was 37 when I bought the business,” Riggle said. “The interesting thing is, Mr. Craft was the same age when he bought it.
“I knew it would be a challenge for me to come here and try to make it better than the previous owner.”
The ever-humble Riggle doesn’t really speculate on whether or not he’s accomplished his task, but is willing to talk about how the business has changed over the last 25 years.
“When I took over, all we had was a telephone,” Riggle said.
In the intervening years, utility bills have risen, of course. But now there’s also need for a credit card machine, a computer and an internet connection that takes the place of the massive catalogs that used to sit behind the counter.
Some products, such as gardening supplies or hog rings, are way less in demand than they used to be. Others, such as plumbing supplies, have held firm or even increased in demand.
“Things have changed to where plumbing is easier for the do-it-yourselfer than it used to be,” Riggle said.
What’s important to Riggle is to be there when people in Roachdale or surrounding areas really need a local hardware.
“When a customer is walking out, the best thing I can hear is, ‘Boy, I’m glad you’re here,’” he said. “Roachdale supports this business. I try to carry everything I can, but let me tell you, there’s a lot of stuff out there.”
It isn’t just the customers, the store is also there for the owner when he’s doing a home improvement project.
“At home, I make a dozen trips up here (to the store),” Riggle said. “I know where it is here and I don’t at home.”
Of course, Riggle won’t say that maybe folks come in because they like the company. Regular customers will say it, though, customers like A.J. Zucco of Parkersburg, who visited on Friday.
“If I didn’t have Charley to come in and see, I probably wouldn’t ever come to Roachdale,” Zucco said.
Attitudes like this make Riggle’s eventual transition out of the hardware business as important to him as when he took over from the Crafts.
“It’s not as easy as it used to be. Of course, I’m older,” Riggle said. “I just have to find the right person to take over some day.
“I bought a piece of history when I bought this place, I know.”
After 25 years, it’s safe to say Charley is a pretty important piece of that history.