The History of Parks Hardware & Supply Inc.

It all started in 1949 when Keith and Mildred Parks were looking for a business to invest in. They found a feed store on 7^th Street in Parkersburg, WV. They thought it was a great location, so they purchased the store and turned it into a hardware and feed store. Hence the name Parks Hardware & Supply.

In June of 1954, J. Roy Fike, Keith and Mildred's nephew, who had just graduated high school, came to work for them. Parks Hardware didn't just provide Roy with a place to work; it also provided a home for Roy and Reba, his wife, in the apartment above the store from 1954 until 1959. 

When Keith and Mildred Parks retired in 1962, Roy and Reba bought Parks Hardware & Supply and continued to run the business in the same building on 7^th Street until 1979. Because the business was outgrowing the little building, Roy decided to expand by purchasing the adjacent properties and having a larger building built. 

Roy and Reba ran Parks Hardware & Supply with the help of several family members until 1999, when they sold the business to their daughter, Janice Cummons, and retired. Janice has been running Parks Hardware for 26 years and is looking forward to retirement and “passing the torch” on to the 4^th generation, including her son, James Rexroad, and her nephew, Ryan Hopkins.