
{"id":1302,"date":"2007-11-15T07:32:30","date_gmt":"2007-11-15T15:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2007\/11\/15\/fitch-turns-100\/"},"modified":"2007-11-15T07:32:30","modified_gmt":"2007-11-15T15:32:30","slug":"fitch-turns-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2007\/11\/15\/fitch-turns-100\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitch turns 100"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/pb125183resized.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/pb125183resized.jpg\" height=\"195\" width=\"260\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em> Four generations of the family have kept the locally owned, service-focused lumber and hardware store in Carrboro thriving.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>By Kirk Ross<br \/>\nStaff Writer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look 100, maybe more middle-aged, still sporting a kind of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc70s look.<br \/>\nBut there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot more to Fitch Lumber than the familiar mod logo on the front of the building that sits across Greensboro Street from Carr Mill. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a spirit there that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kept an independent, family-run enterprise in business for a century now. On Saturday, from 8 a.m. to noon, the company is sharing some of that spirit with a  celebration yard sale (along with free hot dogs).<\/p>\n<p>In his office just off the main order area, Mac Fitch, president, says that unlike other small hardware and lumber companies Fitch has been lucky in part because of geography. Lowes and Home Depot moved into the area east of Chapel Hill, far enough away that Fitch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s center-of-Carrboro location remained convenient for a lot of customers.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Had that gone another way, it might have been a different story,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mac Fitch said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Being on this side of town has been helpful to us.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Another source of the longevity of the company is a strategy of working with custom homebuilders. The move paid off as the area grew. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have our own little niche here,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mac Fitch.<\/p>\n<p>And while the geography and strategy have been important, the secret to success has been the people.<\/p>\n<p>Carol Fitch Walker, Mac\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sister, says she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proud that there have been other families who have had fathers and sons spend their careers with the company. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A lot of generations have worked here \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a lot of families and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not all named \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcFitch,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Mac Fitch, whose sons Brad and David represent the fourth generation of the family at the company, said the principal philosophy all these years has been service. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never been the cheapest place around, but people come here because of our service and because we have people who have been around for a while and have a lot of product knowledge.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nThe phrase \u00e2\u20ac\u0153been around for a while\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is an understatement, especially in an industry dominated by warehouse chains. Fitch is a family business with a broad definition of family.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve only been here 15 years,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Marc Atkins said while working the counter on a recent afternoon. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153new guy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d among the crew behind the counter, and laughs before affirming that, indeed, folks are starting to warm up to him. The job, he said, is more than simply waiting on a parade of customers.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great, diverse group of people who come in here \u00e2\u20ac\u201d everybody from seasoned laborers and journeymen to college-educated engineers. You see the people who moved here as hippies in the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc60s and \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc70s and stayed. All kinds of people who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been through the ups and downs of Carrboro.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kept him at the counter for so long is the family nature of the business. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like a big corporation. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some freedom and flexibility.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>His fellow workers, past and present, agreed.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I always cherish that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not just a number here,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Marshall Murdaugh, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been working at Fitch for nearly 18 years. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I like working for a place where you know the person at the top of the heap and have confidence in the ability of that person to lead.<br \/>\nMike Greenhill, who took a job at Fitch just after graduating from Chapel Hill High, said he was looking for something while he figured out what he wanted to do. That was 31 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Since I was raised here, it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like going to work. Each day I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d see friends and people I went to high school with and there was always a tremendous opportunity to learn how to do things yourself.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Greenhill said he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s acutely aware that working somewhere for so long is a rare thing anymore and attributes the staff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s loyalty to the family\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s approach.<\/p>\n<p>Peggy Hern, who retired as credit manager at Fitch in 2002, said it was that way from the beginning and started with founder A.B. Fitch.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He was one of the finest men you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ever want to meet,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hern, who worked at Fitch for 40 years, said recently. Her mother-in-law, Ava Hern, started working for the family in 1923, and she signed on in 1962 when her first child started school and Fitch was looking for some part-time help.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Miles Fitch was like a father to me from the very first day,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was a wonderful 40 years. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even imagine what it must be like to go to work hating your job.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Milton Cheek, who spent much of his 36 years at Fitch working in the planner mill on<\/p>\n<p>Lloyd Street, said he and others felt like they were part of the family as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They were the best people to work for you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said of the Fitchs. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They treated everybody fairly \u00e2\u20ac\u201d black, white, it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make any difference.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>For their part, the Fitches aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quick to take credit for the accolades. Treating people right and treating employees like they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re part of the family is a long tradition. Listening to a few of the accolades collected from former employees, Mac Fitch paused for a moment, then said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been fortunate to have great employees.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>As for the future, both Mac Fitch and his sister say they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not planning on big changes in the next century.<\/p>\n<p>Carol Fitch Walker said the company is not about to try to compete with the big box stores, including not changing the traditional closing time of noon on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you want to sleep in and not get going until 11:30, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re probably not going to Fitch. If you want to come to a place and see the same people \u00e2\u20ac\u201d people you know will help you \u00e2\u20ac\u201d you come here.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>As for her brother, he says he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll stay in business \u00e2\u20ac\u0153as long as it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still fun and profitable.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00c2\u00a0 Four generations of the family have kept the locally owned, service-focused lumber and hardware store in Carrboro thriving. By Kirk Ross Staff Writer Doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look 100, maybe more middle-aged, still sporting a kind of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc70s look. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot more to Fitch Lumber than the familiar mod logo on the front of the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}