Treasured local business to close doors

After 80 years and four generations of serving the community of Jacksboro, the owners of Nash True Value Hardware have decided to retire and close the store.

The family attributes the store’s longevity to “superior customer service, great employees and a conviction to serve its community and adapt with the times.”

According to siblings, Tammy Malone, Doug Malone, and Holly Berglund, current fourth generation family members to own the business, Nash Hardware was founded in the early 1940s by their great-great-grandfather William “Lee” Nash.

Lee began his active business career in 1923 when he and his wife Sallie, bought an old grocery and filling station in Barton Chapel. He provided a real service to that rural community while Sallie provided room and board to the school teachers. They sold the business in 1929 and moved to Jacksboro.

In the 1930s, Lee became a manager of Hartnitt Wholesale Grocery. He later bought their interest and became the owner. Lee sold this and purchased another grocery store on South Main which he later sold to Carroll Porter.

During this time, he also built an establishment on Graham highway, which included a service station and a tourist court across the road. Among other things, Lee and his brother Tom operated a cafe in Bridgeport for a period.

In the early 1940s, Lee built four buildings on the east side of the square, establishing a car dealership for Studebaker and Packard cars, as well as a hardware store, known today as Nash True Value Hardware.

Lee and Sallie had two daughters, Dorothy and Agnes. Agnes graduated from Jacksboro High School in 1936 and attended Texas Women’s University in Denton. She married James Alden “Al” Malone in 1938. Al and Agnes lived briefly in Santa Monica, Calif. and Grand Prairie, while Al was employed in the aviation business.

After Lee made the decision to retire from the business, he sold the hardware store to Al and Agnes in 1950. Lee then bought a drilling rig and was an independent drilling contractor until the time of his death in 1957. Al and Agnes continued to build the business for the next 50 years.

During the 50-year period, Al and Agnes joined True Value for the advantages of being in a co-op. Agnes’s mother, Sallie Nash Reid, also worked in the store almost until her death in 1994. Al and Agnes were not only dedicated to their business, but to the community it served – civically, educationally and philanthropically. Al passed away in 1998 and Agnes passed in 2008. After their passing, the hardware store’s ownership passed to their son Douglas “Rod” Malone. After Rod’s death in 2018, the store passed to his children – Tammy, Doug, and Holly.

“The independent hardware industry has changed a lot over the years, and it continues to change every day, as does everything else,” Tammy Malone wrote, on behalf of the family. “We not only attribute success to our customers, who are second and third generation customers, but to our long-standing, and loyal employees. We have employees, with many years of service, where their experience and knowledge allow us to provide the best service for our customers.”

The store will be holding a closing sale this Thursday, Sept. 28 on the store's entire inventory, including hardware, housewares, paint and paint sundries, hand and power tools, building materials, plumbing, electrical, fasteners, adhesives, lawn and garden supplies, outdoor power equipment, BBQ grills, and more.

The event will also include more than $2,000 in prizes, which will be awarded at the end of the sale, with no purchase necessary to enter. Patrons simply need to fill out a coupon in-store to receive five free chances to win.

“This will be the largest sale in the 80-year history of the store… and the last,” Malone wrote.

Malone thanked several people, as well as the community, for their continuing support of the store.

“Special thanks and recognition go out to Glen ‘Dooby’ Fox, Lynn Casteel, Job Avalos, Kenneth Guinn, Rich Loofe and many past employees who have contributed to Nash Hardware’s success. Dooby has been the cornerstone and at the heart of Nash Hardware for over 30 years. As Al and Agnes’s apprentice, colleague and manager of several of their personal affairs, as well as the General Manager of Nash Hardware after their passing, his leadership, dedication, service to his community and loyalty to the Malone family is unsurpassed,” Malone wrote. “To Jacksboro and the surrounding community, we thank you for your years of support, loyalty, and kindness for our small business. Your patronage has been invaluable, and we are forever grateful for it. We look forward to seeing you.”