Sneed’s Ace Hardware has been David Shaw’s home away from home for 40 years.
The lifelong Lafayette County resident has worked in the local institution of a store since high school, where he started out unloading trucks and stocking shelves.
“It was just an afterschool job that has grown to become so much more,” Shaw said. “It’s where my wife Susan and I spend most of our time. It’s where we have built friendships with customers and neighbors. It’s where we serve the community.”
That longtime commitment to the store is why David and Susan are excited about the store’s next chapter: changing the name of the store from Sneed’s Ace Hardware to Shaw Ace Hardware.
“It’s not a major change,” Susan said. “We will still have all of the same products. All of the people the community has come to know and love will still be working here. The only thing that is changing is the name on the building.”
In a way, the name change is a full-circle moment for David. That’s because, when the store originally opened on the Square in 1951, David’s grandfather Parham Shaw was one of the co-founders.
“It was originally called Shaw and Sneed Hardware,” says David. “My grandfather started it with his friend Payne Sneed. It eventually became an Ace Hardware store in 1963.”
A couple of years before David’s grandfather passed away in 1967, he sold his part of the store to Sneed and the name was changed to Sneed’s. David has been involved with the store since 1975.
He first worked there in high school and then joined the business full-time as an accountant after graduating from the University of Mississippi. Eventually, after working alongside Payne and Payne’s son Harry, David became a partner in the business in 1998 and then he and Susan purchased it outright when Harry was ready to retire in 2017.
Susan joined the Sneed’s Hardware staff in 2008 as an accountant after teaching at Oxford Middle School for 12 years.
“I learned so much working with both Payne and Harry,” David said. “Over the years, we were able to build the store into the go-to place for everything from home projects to yard work to major maintenance and construction efforts. We have customers who have been coming here for generations now, and I am so grateful to be a part of that.”
The rebrand of Sneed’s Ace Hardware to Shaw Ace Hardware took effect earlier this week with the launch of a new website. In addition, David says customers can expect to see a new sign making its way onto the front of the building.
“We love the mural on the back of the building so much that we have decided that our new logo needed to mimic that style and be painted on as well,” he says. “Other than that, our customers can expect the same friendly service and same expertise that we’ve always provided. Susan and I are so thankful for everyone who has supported us throughout the years, and we are excited about this next chapter in the store’s history.”
Courtesy of Red Window Communications
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