Brownwood News – Weston Jacobs, owner of Weakley-Watson Hardware, a store in Brownwood, Texas, has been named one of the independent home improvement industry’s seven 2020 Young Retailer of the Year honorees by the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA).

The Young Retailer of the Year program, now in its 24th year, identifies and promotes the next generation of aspiring independent home improvement retailers. It recognizes individual achievement by industry retailers age 35 and younger throughout the U.S. and Canada. Selected from three separate retail categories, honorees are chosen based on a number of criteria, including professional milestones, community engagement, continuing hardware industry education and extracurricular activities.

Sponsors of the 2020 Young Retailer of the Year program include Arrow Fastener, Epicor, Fluidmaster, Intertape Polymer Group, Midwest Fastener, MiTek and Pony Jorgensen.

Jacobs owns and operates Weakley Watson Hardware, one of the oldest hardware stores in Texas. The store had been family run and operated since 1876, but the fifth generation of the Weakley family to oversee the business was ready to retire when they prepared to close in 2017.

Jacobs and his family purchased the store in 2017 after learning the hardware store was closing. They wanted to preserve Weakley-Watson Hardware’s 140-year legacy in Brownwood, Texas, the town where Jacobs grew up.

Jacobs had left Brownwood when he went to college at Texas A&M University and then pursued a career with a large trucking company in Dallas. He moved his family to his beloved hometown when they decided to buy Weakley-Watson.

Jacobs had no retail experience, but his parents Tim and Kerri Jacobs were entrepreneurs who saw an opportunity in the business and Jacobs caught their vision.

Jacobs took full responsibility of running the store and set out to learn about retailing and the hardware industry, while also growing the business. In the first year, Jacobs led the store’s change to a new wholesaler for sourcing products and saw sales grow 13 percent. The following year, sales grew 5 percent.

Jacobs turned frequently to the store’s longtime employees to help him learn the business and understand the industry. They have been gracious teachers and Jacobs has been an eager learner.

He has also pursued home improvement industry training opportunities to learn about the products and projects that are important to his customers.

He considers his parents to be significant mentors in his life who have taught him the importance of valuing relationships, no matter how frustrating or stressful a business situation may be.

“They taught me not to lose sight of friendships, relationships and business partnerships in a moment,” Jacobs says. “Every interaction matters. How you treat someone matters now and in the future.”

Jacobs has taken his role as a local business owner seriously, seeing it as an opportunity to give. When granite veterans’ memorials in Brownwood were toppled, he worked with the local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion groups to raise money to rebuild monuments. Working together, they raised $30,000 to rebuild.

In addition, Jacobs works with local businesses and residents to buy bottled water to donate to local volunteer fire departments, collect coats and cold weather gear for needy kids and provide financial donations to help an organization that advocates for abused and neglected children.

“Owning a store and selling things are a lot more than owning a store and selling things,” Jacobs says. “As part of succeeding, it is my duty as a person, Christian and business owner to do good by other people.”

Jacobs has plans to continue growing his business by branching out into sporting goods at his existing store and opening or buying additional locations.

“To be chosen as a Young Retailer of the Year is a tremendous honor. Every year, manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers all anticipate celebrating the impressive accomplishments of the honorees,” says Scott Wright, executive director of the NRHA Retail Leadership Institute. “Weston truly demonstrates the type of ambition and innovation that will continue moving our industry forward.”

For further information about the awards program, honorees and more, visit nrha.org/yroty.

Congratulations to Weston Jacobs at Weakley-Watson Ace Hardware!

(photo by Brownwood News)