Joneses... cont. from 15
turned out to be fortuitous as the
Yoders were ready to retire and Nate
was able to step into a managerial role
under his father.
Currently, Nate attends Clinton
Frame Church, serves on the Shipshewana Town Council, and is on the fi-
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ed so
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of
O ne
da
ed so
shion
old fa
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the g
esses
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for sa
le
nance committee for the Shipshewana
Retail Merchants Association. He was
also relatively recently married to his
bride, Alicia Walz (9/25/2010.)
Nate appreciates the opportunity
to work with his father, “I really enjoy
it ... we think a lot a like. I’m still learning a lot from him about how to successfully run this store.” He pondered
iq
Un
that many sons would probably rather
not work for their father but that he,
“ ... wants to AND gets to.”
In the following pages, you will
learn about what makes the Yoder’s
Shipshewana Hardware unique to the
hardware store world, as well as the
beginnings of where it resides, the
Yoder’s Shopping Center.
le
ng
A
ue
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Corn huskers, hand operated corn shellers, maple syrup
stiles, bulk garden seeds, hand crank
butter churns, black walnut crackers
and crocks from one gallon to fifteen
gallons are only a few of the unique
items that Yoder’s Hardware in Shipshewana has in stock for their customers. You certainly wouldn’t find these
items in every hardware store across
America.
Winford Jones is the owner and
operator of Yoder’s Hardware.
Winford’s first thought about the
uniqueness of his store was the fact
that it is located in the heart of a tourist area. He expressed his appreciation
for the other fine retailers in the community which together help to make
Shipshewana an attractive
etler
Host destination for many people.
His potential customers cover a much
larger area than most independent
hardware stores.
Another unique feature of Yoder’s
Hardware is that it is located inside a
shopping center. Most hardware stores
are stand alone operations or are located in an outdoor shopping plaza, not
under one roof with other stores like
Yoder’s location. Winford emphasized
that the foot traffic each store generates, benefits all the stores in Yoder’s
Shopping Center.
Winford added that some of the
items that he stocks, are actually
made in the community. Those include: hickory rockers, hall trees, wind
chimes, wooden lids for the previously
mentioned crocks, wooden puzzles and
games and scrubbies. The scrubbies are
made by one of Winford’s employees.
continued on page 18
Hand corn husking tools
pg 16 · The Hometown Treasure · Nov. ‘11