In its 104-year history, McAuliffe’s hardware store has been located in a variety of locations throughout the community. For many years the business was located in the shopping center at 232 N. Main St., shown in the 1964 photo above.
(Photo submitted)
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Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories celebrating multi-generational family-owned businesses in the community. The stories will run each Thursday leading up to an Aug. 1, special edition highlighting the Marysville Journal-Tribune’s 175th anniversary.
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“I think our story is one of a business that always adapted to try to meet the needs of the community we are serving and that’s what we have always tried to do – serve the community,” said Dan Fitzgerald, who co-owns McAuliffe’s Ace with his son, Sean. “I think if you listen carefully, people will tell you what they want you to be.”
The business has been locally owned and operated since 1920 when Jerry and John McAuliffe moved to Marysville to start a plumbing business. Jerry was a master plumber, servicing the community. Fitzgerald said John “evolved the business into hardware.”
“In 104 years a whole lot of things have happened,” Fitzgerald said. “The business had changed over the years.”
The McAuliffe brothers had no children but had a nephew, Larry Fitzgerald, Dan’s father.
“My dad came into the business and it changed to his interest, as small businesses do,” said Dan Fitzgerald. He added, “he loved hardware, so it evolved.”
Fitzgerald said he “grew up” in the store, helping from the time he was young.
He graduated from Marysville High School then went to the University of Notre Dame.
“When I came back, I got into business with dad and I learned as much from him as I did from college,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said he approaches his business as an opportunity to help “the everyday person with a problem.”
“That’s kind of what appeals to us in the hardware business is helping people,” Fitzgerald said. “The ability to have a business where you can help people with their problems is very satisfying.”
He said at one time there were nearly a dozen hardware stores in the community. He said his family store’s ability to adapt as problems changed is a key to the business longevity.
Fitzgerald said larger company stores often prioritize general products that move quickly. He said he is able to stock items that might not move as quickly, but meet a very specific need in the community.
“When you are a smaller store, you develop niches that you can be very good at,” Fitzgerald said, noting that people come from miles away to shop at McAuliffe’s bulk seeds.
He said large stores that look at larger trends might miss the local need.
“We try to be good at the things that are important locally,” Fitzgerald said.
He cited a specific circuit breaker style that wasn’t widely used, but was favored by a local homebuilder. McAuliffe’s stocks replacements for the circuit breaker that other stores might not.
“We want to carry the stuff local customers are going to need,” Fitzgerald said. “I think adapting to the needs of a community is so important.”
McAuliffe’s owners adapted through several wars, the Great Depression, a devastating fire, material shortages, changing tastes and a worldwide pandemic.
He said the key has always been an ability to “pivot quickly.”
“When COVID hit, we instantly adapted,” Fitzgerald said.
He said the store ran on “four managers and a bunch of high school kids for a couple months.”
Fitzgerald said that when other stores had empty shelves, he scrambled to find suppliers. He said some of the products were not the store’s typical offerings, but they were able to at least provide an option for customers.
“We didn’t foresee our business would grow when it started,” Fitzgerald said. “We were just trying to survive.”
He said the internet has also provided an unexpected boost. He said shoppers are able to search the store’s inventory before coming in. He said for a small store that carries specialty items, “the transparency of inventory on the internet has really helped.”
He cited a recent customer that was looking for a certain porch swing. McAuliffe’s was the only store in 40 miles that carried it. Fitzgerald said the shopper found it online and drove to Marysville to make the purchase. He said that without the internet, that customer would have never known about his store’s offerings.
The business has changed locations several times. Dan Fitzgerald said he can remember at least eight different locations. In 1995 the store moved to its current location, 1299 W. Fifth St. Fitzgerald said the much larger store was necessary to accommodate the business, which had 50 employees at the time.
He said the business is currently going through a change as it moves from father to son.
Dan said Sean “pretty much runs the business now and he makes most of the decisions.”
He said Sean has been around the business and is making it his own. The father said it is fun watching his son find passion in the family business.
“We work a lot of hours here and if you don’t love it, this is not the place for you and I am fortunate that I love it and that Sean loves it,” he said.
Dan said he doesn’t really give his son advice.
“There is no advice you can give. Experience is what he needs and he is getting it,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald says he knows it is rare for a business to last three generations, let alone four.
“We are pretty proud that we have made it to the fourth generation,” he said.
He said Marysville and Union County “have been very good to us.”
“We wouldn’t be here if they didn’t support us,” Fitzgerald said. “We know that every day they have a choice where they are going to shop and we appreciate that they continue to choose to support us.”
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Dan Fitzgerald, left, and his son, Sean, are proud to be the third and fourth generations of family owners for McAuliffe’s in Marysville. The men realize few businesses reach that milestone.
(Photo submitted)
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Since being founded in 1920, McAuliffe’s has changed names, slightly, several times. The business has also changed focus from primarily plumbing to electrical appliances, to hardware to a full array of local products. Officials say the key to longevity is the ability to adapt to the community needs. Above, employees stand in front of the McAuliffe Brothers store in Uptown Marysville. The marquee in front highlights many of the appliances available in store.
(Photo submitted)
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