PENSACOLA HARDWARE COMPANY Information

We have succeeded in business since our founding in 1851 because of our commitment to quality and customer service. The Pensacola Hardware Company was founded by Albert Lord ("A.L.") Avery in 1851. A.L. Avery opened the first storefront downtown at the corner of Palafox and Intendencia. A.L. Avery's son, Albert Miner ("A.M.") Avery, joined his father in the business in 1876. A.M. Avery, born in 1852 in Pensacola, grew up attending local Pensacola schools, and attended college at the University of the South in Tennessee. He married May Clara Grant in 1878, was a Pensacola City Alderman, and served as President of the Mutual Building & Loan and Director of the American National Bank. During that time, the Pensacola Hardware Company operated as the "A.L. & A.M. Avery Hardware Company." At some point after the elder Avery retired, A.M. Avery took on a business partner, Mr. Woolfolk. The business then became known as Avery and Woolfolk and operated under that name until 1889 when Mr. Woolfolk retired. After Mr. Woolfolk's retirement, A.M. Avery ran and grew the business as the sole proprietor. The business-which then became known as "A.M. Avery Hardware"-became known throughout Pensacola for its wide array of products and expertise. An early advertisement in the 1896 Directory of Pensacola detailed the wide array of products offered at the store: A.M. Avery- Hardware: Stoves, grates, fire brick, axes, spades and shovels, cordage , paint, oil and window glass. On Halloween night of 1905, a fire started in the local confectionery and destroyed 80% of downtown Pensacola. Losses were estimated at $300,000.00-the equivalent of more than $7.6 million dollars today.[1] The fire destroyed nearly all structures from Garden Street to Romana Street. Records show that A.M. Avery Hardware was significantly damaged in the fire. On March 31, 1906, A.M. Avery & Sons merged with Gordon & Brown Hardware Company, which was also significantly damaged in the fire. The business was re-incorporated as the Avery Hardware & Supply company ...