Trousdale family business expands with Inverary hardware store

Article content

Trousdale’s, a well known family name that continues to make its mark on rural communities such as Inverary in South Frontenac, officially opened their latest business, Trousdale’s Home Hardware Building Centre, in Inverary on Friday.

Article content

Surrounded by family, friends and members of the community, John Trousdale spoke about his family’s long history in the retail business and their first Home Hardware store in Sydenham.

“We open our first store in the 1900s,” explained Trousdale, who brought a picture of the original Trousdale store in Sydenham featuring his grandfather and great-grandfather out front.

“So, we’ve been at this for quite a while, and this is quite something that we’ve got here now. A beautiful store and the boys have done really well,” remarked Trousdale, who added their first actual store their family opened up to serve the community was in 1836.

At the ribbon cutting ceremony Friday morning, the family gathered at the Perth Road location, where they were presented with a golden saw from the territory manager Jean-Francois D’Arcy.

For Trousdale’s sons, Will and Matt, it’s an opportunity for them to continue in their ancestors’ footsteps.

“It’s all we know!” said Will.

“I think there’s a sense of responsibility,” added Matt. “You certainly want to see it grow and be successful on your watch. You certainly want to be mindful of the lessons in progress and things learned from generations before and I think you want to create an opportunity for future generations to be successful at this kind of work if that’s something they are passionate about as well. We are just in the procession of the torch if you will.”

Article content

Article content

Toggle full screen modePrevious Gallery Image

1. 

2. 

3. 

Next Gallery ImageToggle gallery captions

All 3 Photos for Gallery

Function Not Available

Full Screen is not supported on this browser version.

You may use a different browser or device to view this in full screen.

OK

For the brothers, it’s more than just a business.

“It’s not just about making a sale today,” said Will. “It’s about building those long relationships within the community and spending time here.”

The family first decided to build a much larger Home Hardware and Building Centre about four years ago. After three years of planning and a year of construction, the brothers said they are happy to see this day arrive.

“We think it met the needs of the community. The store wasn’t large enough and this is a really growing community. It’s very vibrant and it needed a store to meet its needs,” said Will. “There are a lot of services that people don’t know us for such as building materials, windows and doors.”

“Garages, basically if you name it, we can help you out with it and we’re a country community store, but we’re also happy to support the needs of the people from the city as well such as Kingston and the surrounding area,” added Matt.

Article content

For South Frontenac Township Mayor Ron Vandewal, it’s an investment that not only serves a purpose from a business standpoint, but it’s also a testament that the community is moving forward.

“Every time a new store opens like this, it means that they’re anchoring in our community and are willing to invest in our community, which I think is positive,” Vandewal said. “Not everybody likes development but when you grow, you also grow the community and then, so the need is there.”

Vandewal applauded the Trousdale’s for the work that they do, both in and outside of South Frontenac.

“They’ve always been huge supporters of anything that goes on in the community,” Vandewal said. “It’s our privilege to have this in South Frontenac and when people are willing to invest in the community, that means that they’re proud of the community, too.”

Article content

As for future generations of Trousdales taking the reins, in terms of their kids, the brothers said that’s something they hope for, but not something they would pressure them into.

“It certainly can be a challenging job, and I think for anything to be successful, one has to be passionate about what they’re doing so there’s an opportunity, I think, if the kids are passionate about it and they want to do it. But we certainly wouldn’t force anybody to do it,” said Matt.

“Hopefully, I would love to work with my kids as my dad loved working with us, but if they want to walk a different path, we’ll support that as well,” said Will, who added with a laugh, “they’ll definitely put some high school years here, that I guarantee you!”

[email protected]

Article content