The legacy of the Winchester Hardware store, located on Wellman Road just outside of Winchester, will come to an end this June.
by Bridget Weishaar
The year 2023 will mark the end of the era for the Winchester Hardware and Gigi’s Monogramming.
The rising cost of property taxes, insurance, and the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to the tough decision for lone proprietor Gigi Perry.
The legacy of the Winchester Hardware is well over 100 years old. The story begins with owners Bill and Ethel Moon operating the business at the corner of Winchester and 3rd streets.
In 1978, Perry’s parents, Charles and Karen Edmonds, purchased the Winchester business from the Moons. It remained another 11 years at the corner location in downtown Winchester under the direction of the Edmonds family.
According to a newspaper article published in 2009, “That building (in Winchester) would sway when the wind blew hard,” said Charles with a laugh.
The decision was made in 1989 to move the hardware to its current location at 12804 Wellman Road. The business stands in between Charles and Karen’s house and that of Perry and her husband, JR.
Six generations of family have stocked the shelves of the store over the years. When Perry was in high school she had fond memories of both sets of her grandparents working at the store, Bill and Mary Edmonds on Charles’ side and Jack and Jackie Bryant on Karen’s.
The tradition continued on when Perry officially purchased the business from her parents in 2009. Eventually, her own children, Laura and Matthew, helped in different aspects of the business during their teenage years and the final chapter will close with the help of two of her grandchildren, Ryker and Axton.
There has only been one period of her life when Perry hasn’t been involved with the hardware store.
After marrying in 1985, the couple moved to Topeka as a requirement of JR’s job. Over time, the requirement changed allowing for the couple to head back to their Jefferson County roots. Wanting to raise their children in a smaller school system and to help her family with the business, they returned to the area and built next door to the hardware.
They made the move back in June 1993 and soon after Perry found herself a co-partner with her parents on the hardware side. The idea of adding the monogramming business came shortly after.
While living in Topeka, Perry had been helping a friend with her monogramming business and started to think of ways she could incorporate it into the everyday business of the hardware store.
It took her less than three months to devise a plan. “A tractor and some farm equipment was moved around and the addition was built,” Perry said. The addition was added to the south existing wall of the current business. She officially moved out of the fabric room she shared with her mother Karen, and Gigi’s Monogramming was born.
While there is no actual closing date in mind, Perry is hoping to dwindle down enough inventory to be officially closed by June.
Both businesses are currently running a 35% percent off sale on all inventory and those numbers will increase as time moves forward.
While no new inventory will be ordered, all existing orders currently on the embroidery side will be finished. The storage facility owned by the hardware store will remain open.
Perry has plans to enjoy life with her kids and grandkids after the close of the business. She stated, “After some time off for 30 years of good behavior, then I’ll decide what I want to be when I grow up.”
Perry’s husband, JR, is a service technician for Bankers Security, Raytown, Mo. The couple has two children, Matthew, and his wife Caitlin, and daughter Laura and her husband, Derek. They have three grandchildren, Ryker, Axton, and Quinn. Another grandson is on the way in August.